MAC Sports Blog by VanDelay Sports

VanDelay Sports is sitting on press row for the next four days, so since it’s Wednesday and most people are stuck in work we’ll be running live diaries during the games. We’ll be updating this at most of the media time outs. Hopefully this will be somewhat entertaining and informative for those who care.

20:00 - Not counting the media, bands, and teams I’m guessing there are about 500 people here for the start of this one. Of course neither Ball State nor Eastern Michigan or expected to make it to the semis and both campuses aren’t exactly close to Cleveland, so there you go.

15:11 - 9 to 5 Ball State with an early lead. Looks like both teams are still waking up.

11:31 - Anthony Newell on fire for 10 points already, though Ball State is only up 15-14 as Eastern Michigan has been finding the open man on the offensive end.

9:09 - I really like these refs so far, they’re letting a lot of contact go and really letting both teams play. Far better than the free throw contests that sometimes happy with more whistle happy crews.

7:55 - Newell with 12 points now, but nobody else on the Cardinals is doing a whole lot, though they’ve still got a 17-16 lead over the Eagles.

Halftime - Ball State leading 30 to 26 over Eastern Michigan at the half. Newell started out strong for Ball State, but they started looking even better towards the end of the half when they spread the scoring throughout the rest of their lineup. Eastern has looked solid so far too, getting 10 points from Travis Lewis and having the rest of their lineup pitch in for point. This one looks like it could be a fairly exciting game in the 2nd half.

7:42 - This game has stayed close, Eastern Michigan with a 1-point lead, 41-40. Newell has 15 points, but also 4 fouls. The Cardinals really need him to stay on the floor if they’re going to have much of a chance as this game winds down. Dobbins has been killing the Cardinals here in the second half, he’s got 19 points on the game.

4:34 - Jesse Bunkley hits his first field goal, a 3, and Ball State takes an immediate time out. Could Eastern be pulling away? They’re up 6, and Ball State has been having trouble scoring over the past 4 minutes.

3:37 - Eastern still up 6, going to the line with a timeout on the floor. Have I mentioned how much I like Dobbins, Medlock, and Bunkley? Oh yeah, I did. Dobbins is only a sophomore too. He could be a major player in this conference if Ramsey continues to build a good team around him.

1:47 - Dobbins gets tackled on his way to the hoop, still makes the layup, but comes up limping. Ball State quickly runs it down, gets fouled, hits two freebies. 53-49 Eastern.

0:24 - Eastern hits two free throws and Ball State knocks down a 3 on their 3rd chance in that possession. It’s a 5 point game, but it’s Eastern Michigan’s ball and this one looks like theirs to lose.

0:21 - Dear Eastern Michigan Trumpet Player, the next time the Director calls for Living on a Prayer just don’t play if you can’t hit any of the notes.

0:04 - Ball State with another 3, but they’re down 4 with 4 seconds left. EMU with the ball, this one’s all but over.

Final - 59-55 Eastern Michigan wins. Justin Dobbins leads all scorers with 21 points and is named player of the game as he tacked on 6 rebounds and 3 assists as well. We’ll be back for the CMU/NIU game starting at 3:30.

Dan Whitmyer is the head basketball writer at VanDelay Sports. He can be reached at dwhit@vandelay-sports.com