At the Game

Eastern Michigan beat Miami of Ohio at home on Monday night, so that gave them the opportunity to play Bowling Green on Wednesday night.  They beat Bowling Green which meant they got the chance to play Toledo.  The MAC Tournament is set up in a way that rewards the higher ranked teams in the Conference.  It is the main reason why the games that Eastern lost early in the MAC season were huge.  Eastern had to claw its way to get to this point and this was Toledo's first game in the Tournament.

So Eastern would be playing its third game in 4 days and Toledo would be playing it's first.

 A shot of the inside of the Arena.  It seats a little over 20,000 people for basketball games.  Given that we were watching MAC games, the attendance wouldn't get anywhere near that.

 The Eastern Michigan Basketball Band made the trip as well.

 Jumbotrons are so passe, so Quicken has a Humungotron.  I will have to admit, it looked pretty cool.

 Since I didn't think that Eastern would make it to this point, I was sitting in the stands.  The seats weren't bad, but the people that would be occupying those seats would get in the way.  Anyway, the Eastern Michigan Cheerleaders also made the trip.

 As did Swoop.

 Since I didn't think my shots of the game would be as good as usual, I tried to concentrate on different things.  The Cheerleaders doing a pyramid.

 With the way the game was going, I am surprised the ref didn't call Swoop for a foul.

 Tim Bond and Brandon Nazione on defense.  The Eagles managed to keep it close in the first half but I think fatigue started to show up into the second half.

 Raven Lee advancing the ball down the court.

 Coach Murphy was not very happy with the officiating and I honestly can't say that I disagree with him.  It seemed like many of the calls were going Toledo's way.  But that is the way of things.

 Mike Talley taking the ball down the court.  He was starting to look tired at the end of the first half but I don't blame him because he played pretty hard in the prior games.

 The Eastern fans cheering on a good play.

 The Eastern Cheerleaders to start the first half.

 Tim Bond setting up the offense.

 We got to see a few Karrington dunks but by the time that was happening, the game was starting to get out of hand.

 Raven Lee on defense.

 Mike Talley advancing the ball again.

 The Eastern Cheerleaders.

 Brandon Nazione making a layup.

 Even Swoop got into a pyramid and that was pretty cool.

 This guy was a beast all night.

 After a flip.

 Raven Lee for a rare Eastern appearance at the free throw line.

Mike Talley just before he was pulled.  The game was pretty much won at this point.

Even though I'm not happy with the way the season ended, I was still proud of the Eagles.  I just wish the momentum they built at the beginning of the season would carry into the MAC Season.  It would have been nice to Mike Talley and Karrington Ward leave with a MAC Title.  Oh well.

I think Eastern is in pretty good shape for next season though.