Gamecenter: Brown 74, Eastern Michigan 55

	1st	2nd	Final
Brown (1-0)	45	29	74
Eastern Michigan (0-1)	28	27	55


Convocation Center – Ypsilanti, MI	Boxscore

Keys to the Game
Key sequence	Trailing 24-18 with just over eight minutes left in the first half, Brown absolutely exploded offensively. The Bears scored on 11 of their final 13 possessions of the first half, outscoring the Eagles 27-4 in that period. Damon Huffman had 14 of those points, draining all four three-point attempts during the run. When the halftime buzzer eventually sounded, Eastern Michigan had to wonder what had hit it, as Brown took a commanding 45-28 lead into the locker room.
Key sign it was over	After a late 9-0 Eastern Michigan run had trimmed Brown’s advantage to 66-52, Mark McAndrew got to the line and hit both free throws to stop the bleeding. Following an Eagle free throw, Steve Gruber added a pair at the line. EMU had a number of chances at the other end, getting offensive rebounds after a missed three-pointer and two missed free throws, but Will Cooper’s layup attempt was blocked by Brown freshman Chris Taylor. This led directly to a fastbreak layup by classmate Garrett Leffelman that restored the Bears’ lead to 72-53 and put an end to any Eagle hopes of a miraculous comeback.
Key performance	In total contrast to last season’s opener at Michigan State where he suffered a knee injury, Huffman had a much more enjoyable homecoming this time around. The Petoskey native was on fire from the outside, hitting his first six from three-point range and finishing with a game-high 24 points.
Key statistic	The Bears sank eight of their 10 first-half attempts from beyond the arc and finished the game a very healthy 10 of 17 (58.8 percent) from three.

Notes

– The win marked the first win in a season opener for Brown since 2001, when the Bears topped Vermont 82-58 in New Britain, CT.

– McAndrew also had a very strong game, tallying 22 points on 6-of-9 field goal shooting and converted 6 of 7 shots at the line.

– Craig Robinson went without a point guard and his starting frontcourt picked up the slack, with Chris Skrelja, Scott Friske, and Mark MacDonald combining for a very impressive 14 assists. 18 of Brown’s 24 field goals were assisted.

– In their typical fashion, the Bears got the better of their opposition at the free throw line, attempting three more free throws than their hosts and making four more.

– Wendale Farrow was the leading scorer for EMU with 15 points off the bench.

– The defensive rebounding was poor for both teams, with EMU rebounding at 43.2 percent offensively and Brown not far behind at 40.0 percent.

– Brown heads over to Ann Arbor next for a date with Michigan at noon on Sunday, November 11.

Basketball U.

Gamecenter: Brown 74, Eastern Michigan 55

Jake Wilson

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Basketball U.

Basketball U.

Jake Wilson

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Basketball U.