'Cats Rally Late in Season Opener to Beat Eastern Michigan, 81-77
11/10/2006 3:57:25 PM | Men's Basketball
Recap | Box Score
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- After trailing by as many as 17 in the first half, Davidson rallied to win its season opener against Eastern Michigan, 81-77, in the John Thompson Foundation Challenge hosted by the University of Michigan. The young Wildcat squad overcame 32 turnovers with four players scoring in double figures, led by junior Thomas Sander with a career-high 19 points.
Trailing 10-7, Eastern Michigan took advantage of a 5:44 Wildcat scoring drought with a 16-0 run capped off by a Jesse Bunkley trey to grab a 23-10 lead with 11:08 left in the opening period. The Eagles continued their hot-shooting in the first half pushing the margin to as many as 17 thanks to Bunkley's third bucket from downtown in the stanza. In the first 20 minutes of action, EMU knocked down eight three-pointers and turned 18 Davidson miscues into 21 points to make it a 44-28 contest at the break.
The Wildcats wasted little time cutting into the 16-point halftime deficit as they opened the second half with an 18-4 streak to trail only by two, 48-46, but Eastern Michigan responded again with a small spurt to extend its lead back to double-digits, 60-50.
With just over six minutes left, Davidson ran off eight unanswered thanks to a Stephen Curry three and five consecutive points from Boris Meno to make it a two-point contest once again. After the two teams traded buckets over the next 1:20, the Wildcats finally tied the contest on a Meno putback and had a chance to grab the lead as he was fouled in the process just prior to the final media stoppage, but Meno missed the freebie.
Out of the timeout, Carlos Medlock put the Eagles back in front with a layup, but it was all Wildcats from then on, as Curry nailed back-to-back buckets from long range to give Davidson a 70-66 advantage, its first since the opening minutes. The Eagles got to within one on a pair of Craig Cashen free throws, but couldn't inch closer as the 'Cats went on a 9-1 run to stretch the lead to their largest of the night, 78-70, with 40 ticks to go.
Wildcat guard Jason Richards finished with a career-high 17 points and dished out eight assists, while Meno finished with his third double-double in a Davidson uniform recording 12 points and 10 boards. Curry was the other 'Cat to go for double-digits scoring 15 in his first collegiate contest.
Medlock, the MAC's newcomer of the year in 2005-06, led three Eastern Michigan players in double figures with a game-high 23 points. Bunkley added 12, all on three-pointers and Devon Dumes contributed 11 off the bench in 27 minutes of action.
Davidson's Andrew Lovedale led all players with a career-best 12 boards, and helped the Wildcats to a 44-34 margin on the glass.
The Wildcats finished the evening at 45.3 percent (24-53), including seven buckets from long range and knocked down 26 of their 36 attempts from the charity stripe.
After shooting a blistering 53.6 percent in the opening half, EMU managed just a 31.4 percentage from the floor in the final period to finish 26-of-63 (41.3 percent) for the game. The Eagles nailed 11 baskets from beyond the arc and hit 66.7 percent of their attempts from the line.
The two teams forced each other into a combined 58 turnovers on the evening.
This evening's come back was the Wildcats biggest since rallying from 19 points down against The Citadel in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Tournament a year ago.
Davidson will continue its appearance in the John Thompson Foundation Challenge tomorrow at 4 p.m. as they battle event host Michigan before concluding the tournament with Central Connecticut State on Sunday. Eastern Michigan and CCSU will play the 2 p.m. contest prior to the Wildcats' affair with the Wolverines.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- After trailing by as many as 17 in the first half, Davidson rallied to win its season opener against Eastern Michigan, 81-77, in the John Thompson Foundation Challenge hosted by the University of Michigan. The young Wildcat squad overcame 32 turnovers with four players scoring in double figures, led by junior Thomas Sander with a career-high 19 points.
Trailing 10-7, Eastern Michigan took advantage of a 5:44 Wildcat scoring drought with a 16-0 run capped off by a Jesse Bunkley trey to grab a 23-10 lead with 11:08 left in the opening period. The Eagles continued their hot-shooting in the first half pushing the margin to as many as 17 thanks to Bunkley's third bucket from downtown in the stanza. In the first 20 minutes of action, EMU knocked down eight three-pointers and turned 18 Davidson miscues into 21 points to make it a 44-28 contest at the break.
The Wildcats wasted little time cutting into the 16-point halftime deficit as they opened the second half with an 18-4 streak to trail only by two, 48-46, but Eastern Michigan responded again with a small spurt to extend its lead back to double-digits, 60-50.
With just over six minutes left, Davidson ran off eight unanswered thanks to a Stephen Curry three and five consecutive points from Boris Meno to make it a two-point contest once again. After the two teams traded buckets over the next 1:20, the Wildcats finally tied the contest on a Meno putback and had a chance to grab the lead as he was fouled in the process just prior to the final media stoppage, but Meno missed the freebie.
Out of the timeout, Carlos Medlock put the Eagles back in front with a layup, but it was all Wildcats from then on, as Curry nailed back-to-back buckets from long range to give Davidson a 70-66 advantage, its first since the opening minutes. The Eagles got to within one on a pair of Craig Cashen free throws, but couldn't inch closer as the 'Cats went on a 9-1 run to stretch the lead to their largest of the night, 78-70, with 40 ticks to go.
Wildcat guard Jason Richards finished with a career-high 17 points and dished out eight assists, while Meno finished with his third double-double in a Davidson uniform recording 12 points and 10 boards. Curry was the other 'Cat to go for double-digits scoring 15 in his first collegiate contest.
Medlock, the MAC's newcomer of the year in 2005-06, led three Eastern Michigan players in double figures with a game-high 23 points. Bunkley added 12, all on three-pointers and Devon Dumes contributed 11 off the bench in 27 minutes of action.
Davidson's Andrew Lovedale led all players with a career-best 12 boards, and helped the Wildcats to a 44-34 margin on the glass.
The Wildcats finished the evening at 45.3 percent (24-53), including seven buckets from long range and knocked down 26 of their 36 attempts from the charity stripe.
After shooting a blistering 53.6 percent in the opening half, EMU managed just a 31.4 percentage from the floor in the final period to finish 26-of-63 (41.3 percent) for the game. The Eagles nailed 11 baskets from beyond the arc and hit 66.7 percent of their attempts from the line.
The two teams forced each other into a combined 58 turnovers on the evening.
This evening's come back was the Wildcats biggest since rallying from 19 points down against The Citadel in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Tournament a year ago.
Davidson will continue its appearance in the John Thompson Foundation Challenge tomorrow at 4 p.m. as they battle event host Michigan before concluding the tournament with Central Connecticut State on Sunday. Eastern Michigan and CCSU will play the 2 p.m. contest prior to the Wildcats' affair with the Wolverines.
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