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 Willie Freeman along with Cory Largent lead Western Carolina against the Eagles Saturday night. |
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Dec 29, 2001
YPSILANTI, Mich. (AP) - Ryan Prillman and Steve Pettyjohn scored 18 points each to lead Eastern Michigan to a 72-59 win over Western Carolina on Saturday night.
The Eagles (4-7) sank their free throws down the stretch to overcome 24 turnovers for the victory. Prillman had a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Catamounts (6-5) suffered from poor shooting, making 34.9 percent of their shots, including just 6-of-23 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Cory Largent and Willie Freeman both scored 11 for Western Carolina.
The game was a defensive struggle in the first half as the teams combined for 27 turnovers.
Down 14-5 after shooting 18 percent the first 10 minutes of the game, Eastern Michigan went on an 18-8 run, and the teams were tied at 24 at halftime.
Michael Ross nailed a 3-pointer out of halftime and the Eagles maintained the lead until a lay-up by Largent tied the game at 47-47 with 6:16 to go.
That's when Eastern Michigan converted key free throws. Sixteen of the Eagles' final 25 points came at the foul line.
Ricky Cottrill, Eastern's leading scorer averaging 21.1 points entering the game, was held to a season-low 11 on 3-of-9 shooting. His final four points were on foul shots with less than a minute to play.
Western Carolina will open Southern Conference play on Wednesday (Jan.2) at VMI. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m., at Cameron Hall. After facing the Keydets and playing its fourth straight road game, Western will return to the RAC to face Davidson (Jan. 5), Furman (Jan. 7) and The Citadel (Jan. 12).
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