YPSILANTI, Mich. — Eastern Michigan forward Steve Pettyjohn hit a three pointer with just 56 seconds left, ending a 7-0 Bowling Green run and sealing a 73-67 win for the host Eagles last night here at EMU’s Convocation Center.
BG (8-5, 4-1 Mid-American Conference) had held Eastern (7-5, 1-2 MAC) scoreless over the previous 3:03 of the game, and used four free throws by Ron Lewis and a three by John Reimold to cut the Eagle lead to two at 66-64. But Pettyjohn, with the shot clock winding down, hit his only three of the game to essentially seal the win.
“Our team felt it was imperative to come in here and hold serve at home against a very good team,” Eastern coach Jim Boone said. “And we gave the same effort tonight that we did Saturday night (an 87-54 loss to Western Michigan). There was no difference in the effort, only that we executed.”
The teams went back and forth throughout much of the game, as neither team led by more than five in the first half. BG scored the first five points of the game, and led 10-5 four minutes in. However, five straight points by Eastern’s JaQuan Hart four minutes later knotted the score at 16. Eastern took their first lead midway through the half on a Ricky Cottrill layup, but another Reimold three gave BG the lead at 19-18.
Hart made two free throws next, and the Eagles would not trail again. EMU’s Ryan Prillman had eight in the first half to lead a balanced scoring attack, and the Eagles led 37-34 at the half. Eastern quickly opened their lead in the opening minutes of the second half, as Markus Austin and Prillman hit two free throws apiece and Pettyjohn nailed a jumper to give EMU an eight-point lead a minute into the half. They opened that lead to nine just prior to the first media timeout of the half on yet another Pettyjohn jumper, but BG would not go away. Cory Eyink hit a three with 14 minutes left, and after a free throw by Hart, BG’s Jabari Mattox drove to the hoop and scored to cut the lead to two.
A subsequent 9-2 run by Eastern looked to put the Falcons away, though, as two layups and a Michael Ross three opened the hosts’ lead to nine at 61-52. After BG pulled within six again with six minutes left on an Eyink layup, Austin made one free throw and Prillman two to give EMU their 66-57 lead, setting the stage for the dramatic finish.
After Pettyjohn hit his three for a 69-64 Eagle lead, Eastern made four of six free throws down the stretch to ice the victory. After the game, BG coach Dan Dakich gave credit to Eastern. “I thought they deserved to win the game,” Dakich said. “They played hard, they were aggressive, and when they had the chance, they made big plays. I’m disappointed. I thought that we would have come back better than that, but you can’t take anything away from them.”
Netter led the visitors with 15, but never really got into a rhythm and finished 5-17 from the floor. Eyink tallied 14, Reimold 11 and Lewis 10. BG out-rebounded the Eagles 38-29.
Pettyjohn led the Eagles with 18, while Ross and Prillman added 12 apiece. The Eagles shot 48.1 percent from the field, but perhaps more importantly, harassed Mattox for the duration of the game, and forced the Falcons into 18 turnovers.
Dakich said the ball pressure applied to his team was a huge factor in the game.
“They really pressured Jabari, so in the second half we had Ron bring the ball down,” Dakich said. “We hoped to relieve some of the pressure on Jabari. We started cutting there pretty good with about 10 minutes to go, but we just couldn’t sustain it. I thought Kevin got good looks, but he’s not going to make every shot.
[James] Jackson did a good job guarding Kevin, and they put a lot of pressure on him.”
