MAC Sports Blog by VanDelay Sports

VanDelay Sports is sitting on press row for the MAC Basketball Tournament this week, so since it’s Thursday 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.

15:39 - Quick start with both teams getting up and down the floor but not necessarily converting with a lot of points. Western out to an early 9-3 lead.

13:19 - EMU does not look sharp early. McLemore hits a 3 and opens the WMU lead to 14-3. Charles Ramsey responds with a timeout.

11:52 - Eastern on a nice little 5 point run to pull it to 14-8 going into the 12 minute media timeout. Jesse Bunkley with 6 of Eastern’s 8 points so far.

7:32 - At this point Eastern just looks overmatched, especially on offense. Western leads 24-11 and if Eastern can’t find a better way to get open looks this one could be a laugher by the half. Kool with 9 points early and Western leading points in the paint 12-2.

4:36 - 27-18 Western’s lead. You can’t fault Eastern for not playing with heart. They’ve been diving on the floor countless times for loose balls and keeping this one within shouting distance.

2:00 - Eastern keeping it respectable but Reitz muscles down a board then hits a shot with a foul to open the lead to 12. Rebounds are a major factor in this one. At last count the Broncos had a 15 to 7 advantage on the glass.

Halftime - 36-23 Western leads at the half. More info coming when I get the 1st half stats. Western shooting 48% Eastern shooting 30%. That’s pretty much the difference at the half. It’s not a matter of Western shooting lights out or anything either, the Broncos have just done a better job of getting better looks than the Eagles in the first half.

Band update - Rarely do I say this, but I really like Western Michigan’s band. If somehow the Broncos and Bobcats would face off in the Finals the Q would be rockin’.

15:09 - More of the same, Western tries to pull away Eastern keeps it within shouting distance at 41-31. At this point I don’t really see a way that Eastern can score with enough efficiency or stop Western enough to close this even within 5, but there’s a bunch of time left, and it’s still a possibility. Ramsey could try going to a press maybe to turn up the pressure on the Broncos soon.

13:06 - Well, ignore that last post. Eastern with a quick 7 point run to close it to 3. The Eagles have certainly been hanging around all game when it looks like Western keeps trying to put it away. Now they’re making a run and seeing if maybe they can win this one.

11:54 - 41-38 Western leads, but you can see the Eagles getting more confident after their nice 7-point run to pull it to 3. This is the run that Western is going to need to withstand right here. Reitz with 3 fouls has been on the bench for the last sequence and is still sitting now. Interesting.

Is now a good time to point out that I picked Eastern Michigan as my potential Cinderella team? I think it is.

10:34 - Tie game at 44…

9:24 - Reitz and Kool coming up big. Western goes up 4, 48-44. Eastern with a 30.

7:47 - Western with a tiny bit of breathing room up 52-46.

6:55 - Eastern with a chance to cut it to two, blows a bunny, Western converts on FT’s, goes up 6.

4:29 - Bunkley DAGGER… Eastern pulls it within 3. WMU with a quick timeout.

Free-Throw contest alert. Every possession there’s a whistle. I’m not exaggerating.

3:14 - Bunkley clanks a 3, Western drives back down and Gary laces one. Western up 62-55. Eastern with the ball when we come back.

1:33 - 64-57 Eastern’s still hanging around but they’re going to need to nail some shots pretty soon or this one’s going to be over. Western’s been pretty solid at the line.

1:04 - Western two FT’s, Western steal, Fracalossi dunk… Western by 11. This one’s about done.

0:46 - Eastern 1 of 2 at the line. Medlock steps in front of the PG and takes a charge, Jones hits a 3, and suddenly it’s a 7 point game again.

0:23 - Again Western (especially David Kool) solid at the line. 9 point game. Western with the ball. Eastern with a solid effort today, but it’s just not going to be enough.

Final - And it ends 70-61. Shawntes Gary is your player of the game with 14 points and at last count 8 rebounds. Though I’d say that David Kool has to be right up there too with 24 points, and his solid shooting at the line really helped Western out late as this game turned into a whistle-fest.

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

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