DINUNNO’S LAST SECOND SHOT LIFTS COLONELS TO 7-0

By Kevin Britton, Assistant Director of Athletic Public Relations:

" Mike DiNunno’s lay-up with 2.3 seconds left completed a comeback from 10 points down with 6:38 left in the game as Eastern Kentucky University’s men’s basketball team beat Western Carolina 72-70 on Saturday at McBrayer Arena.

                       

The last-second win keeps the Colonels undefeated at 7-0.  EKU is off to its best start in 66 years.  The 1946-47 squad began the season with 11 straight wins.

A tip-in by James Sinclair put the Catamounts (3-5) in front 62-52 with only six and a half minutes left in the game.  Eastern closed the gap to four on four occasions but couldn’t get any closer until Corey Walden’s lay-up made it 68-66 with 2:06 left to play.  Over the next minute, Western Carolina took advantage of three offensive rebounds to put up three shots, including two three-pointers, in an attempt to build on its lead. 

After the final offensive board, Walden knocked the ball loose, Jeff Johnson picked it up near the free throw line and launched a pass down court to a streaking Glenn Cosey for the game tying lay-up with 1:15 showing on the clock.  The Catamounts had held the lead since the 11:49 mark of the first half.

Cosey’s jumper with 27 ticks remaining put the home squad in front by two.  Trey Sumler answered on the other end with a jumper to tie with 16 seconds to go.  DiNunno drove the length of the court and laid in the game winner.  Western did not get a shot off before the buzzer sounded.

Cosey led EKU with 15 points.  DiNunno finished with 14 points and seven assists.  Walden had 11 points and six rebounds.

Tawaski King led all players with 18 points for Western Carolina.  Sinclair finished with 10 points and eight boards.

Eastern shot 50 percent or better for the fifth time in seven games this season.  The Colonels knocked down 28-of-52 for a season-best 54 percent.  After making 6-of-11 attempts from three-point range in the first half, WCU made just 1-of-13 in the second.  The Catamounts shot 29 percent from deep.

The Colonels were out-rebounded by 10, but out-scored Western 42-26 in the paint.  As it has all season, EKU took advantage of the other team’s turnovers.  WCU committed only three more than Eastern, but were out-scored by seven points off turnovers.

After playing seven straight games at home to start the season, the Colonels will be on the road for the first time Tuesday at North Carolina Central University in Durham.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m."

EKU MOVES TO 5-0 WITH CONVINCING WIN OVER NORFOLK STATE

 By Michael Clark Eastern Kentucky University Director of Athletic Public Relations:

"The Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team used a 20-5 run midway through the second half to pull away from Norfolk State and defeat the visiting Spartans, 68-44, on Saturday night at McBrayer Arena.

EKU (5-0) stayed perfect on the season with the convincing win.

Senior Mike DiNunno led the Colonels with 19 points on the night. The Chicago native connected on 4-of-6 three pointers, and it was his three-point play that sparked EKU’s decisive second half run. Junior Glenn Cosey dropped 14 points and four assists for EKU, while sophomore Corey Walden came off the bench to contribute 15 points and four steals.

Malcolm Hawkins was the only NSU player to reach double figures with 13 points.

EKU (25-of-51) shot better than 50 percent from the field for the third time this season and stifled Norfolk State to a season-low 44 points and just 33 percent (16-of-49) shooting from the field, including 26 percent (6-of-23) in the first half. The 17 first-half points were the fewest by the Spartans in any half this season.

The Colonels scored 10 unanswered points to open the game and then took their largest lead of the first half when Cosey found Walden for a layup that made it 24-8 with 6:02 on the clock. Norfolk State, however, ended the half on a 9-2 run and went into the locker room at halftime down by only nine, 26-17.

EKU held NSU at bay through the first nine minutes of the second half, but the Spartans clawed back into the game with a 7-0 run that cut the Colonels’ lead to four, 36-32, when A.J. Rogers hit a jumper with 11:33 to play.

It was as close as Norfolk State would get. DiNunno converted three free throws on the ensuing EKU possession, which sparked a 20-5 Colonel run that all but sealed the win. DiNunno and Walden buried back-to-back three-pointers to end the run and give EKU a commanding 54-37 lead with 7:23 on the clock.

EKU returns to action when the Colonels host Delaware State on Wednesday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m."

COLONELS TO HOST NORFOLK STATE, ARCHITECT OF THE BIGGEST UPSET OF LAST SEASON’S NCAA TOURNAMENT

By Kevin Britton, Assistant Director of Athletic Public Relations,

"RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky University’s men’s basketball team will host Norfolk State University on Saturday at McBrayer Arena.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.  The Colonels are 4-0 this season.  The Spartans pulled off the biggest upset of last season’s NCAA Tournament, beating No. 2 seed Missouri.

The live radio broadcast of the game is available in the Richmond area on WCYO 100.7 FM, and can be heard worldwide on EKUSports.com.  A live video broadcast of the contest is available on OVCDigitalNetwork.com.

EKU opened its season with four straight wins to capture the Comfort Suites Invitational title.  The Colonels have won 12 straight home non-conference games and are 35-7 under head coach Jeff Neubauer in such contests.

Eastern’s 4-0 start is its best since 2004-05, a campaign that began with five straight wins and ended with a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

The Colonels are taking advantage of other team’s mistakes early in the season.  Through the first four games, Eastern has committed 33 fewer turnovers than its opponents and has out-scored its foes 93-48 off turnovers.  In addition, EKU has shot 50 percent or better from the field in two of their first four games and knocked down 49 percent in a game.

Norfolk State went 26-10 last season.  However, only one starter returned from that squad.  The Spartans are off to a 2-3 start to the 2012-13 campaign.  NSU has won a pair of road games – at Rhode Island and at Longwood.  Norfolk State has losses to Seton Hall, Loyola-Maryland and Missouri-Kansas City.

Junior guard Pendarvis Williams is the lone returning starter and leads the team in scoring (12.8 ppg) and assists (2.2 apg) this year.  Freshman forward Rashid Gaston is the second leading scorer (10 ppg) and top rebounder (8.0 rpg).

In Sunday’s 63-57 loss to UMKC, the Spartans won the battle of the boards by six – including a 15-3 edge in offensive boards – and committed only 12 turnovers.  However NSU shot just 38 percent from the field, including 22 percent from behind the arc.

This will be the third meeting between the two programs.  Eastern Kentucky won 67-60 in the Virgin Islands early in the 2005 season.  Norfolk State picked up a 70-63 on its home court last season."

BASKETBALL EXTRAVEGANZA THIS WEEKEND AT EKU

By Kevin Britton, Assistant Director of Athletic Public Relations

RICHMOND, Ky. – Seven men’s basketball games will be played over four days this weekend as Eastern Kentucky hosts the 2012 Comfort Suites Invitational at McBrayer Arena.

The Colonels will play the first game each day – 6 p.m. on Friday against Kennesaw State, 6 p.m. on Saturday against Towson and 5 p.m. on Sunday against Radford.

Here is the complete schedule:

Friday               Kennesaw State at EKU, 6 p.m.

Radford vs. Towson, 8 p.m.

Saturday            Towson at EKU, 6 p.m.

Kennesaw State vs. Radford, 8 p.m.

Sunday              Radford at EKU, 5 p.m.

Towson vs. Kennesaw State, 7 p.m.

Monday            Cincinnati Christian vs. Towson, 1 p.m.

The live radio broadcast of each EKU game is available in the Richmond area on WCYO 100.7 FM, and can be heard worldwide on EKUSports.com.  A live video broadcast of each EKU contest is available on OVCDigitalNetwork.com.

Eastern will be facing each of its three opponents for the first time.  The Colonels are 1-0 this season after beating Cincinnati Christian, 89-56, in the first game of the Comfort Suites Invitational last Friday.  Newcomer Glenn Cosey had a game-high 20 points in his EKU debut.

Kennesaw State enters the game with a 1-1 record.  The Owls lost by nine points at Tennessee in their season-by

Towson enters the Classic with a 0-1 record and is led by 6-foot-8 forward Jerrelle Benimon who scored 23 points in the Tigers’ season opener at the College of Charleston.  Radford stands at 1-1 after a loss at Wake Forest and an overtime victory at home against Cincinnati Christian.  Sophomore guard R.J. Price leads the Highlanders with an average of 16 points per game.

-- www.EKUSports.com -

COLONELS DISPATCH CINCINNATI CHRISTIAN ON OPENING NIGHT

By Kevin Britton Assistant Director of Athletic Public Relations, Eastern Kentucky University

"RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky University’s men’s basketball team scored 16 unanswered points in the first six minutes of the game and cruised to an 89-56 win over Cincinnati Christian University in the Colonels’ season opener and the first game of the Comfort Suites Invitational.

Back-to-back three-pointers by newcomer Corey Walden and junior forward Jeff Johnson capped Eastern’s fast start.  A 10-1 run later in the first half gave the Colonels their first 20-plus point lead.  Eric Stutz scored the final four on a tip-in and a lay-up for a 30-9 advantage.

A three-pointer by sophomore Timmy Knipp, EKU's seventh of the first half, with 38 seconds on the clock gave the Colonels their largest first half lead at 27 points, 49-22.  Eastern shot 65 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes of action and hit on 7-of-15 from long range.

Eastern Kentucky led by 20 or more points from the 2:46 mark of the first half.

Three straight three-pointers – one by Tarius Johnson and two by Glenn Cosey – capped an 11-1 run that pushed EKU out in front by 36 points, 66-30, with 14:21 left to play.  That would be the Colonels’ largest lead, matched a minute later.  Cincinnati Christian never got closer than 30 the rest of the way.

All 13 Colonels that were eligible to play tonight saw action.  Eleven of them scored at least two points.

In his EKU debut, Cosey scored a game-high 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field.  The junior knocked down 6-of-7 from three-point range.  Stutz finished with 11 points and six rebounds.  Senior Mike DiNunno scored 10 and handed out four assists.  Tarius Johnson contributed 10 points and a game-high seven rebounds.

DJ McCommons led CCU (0-3) with 15 points.

The Colonels shot 53 percent from the field for the game and 47 percent from three-point land.  EKU went 14-for-30 from deep.  The home squad enjoyed a 33-26 rebounding edge and committed 10 fewer turnovers than Cincinnati Christian’s 24 miscues.

The Comfort Suites Invitational continues next week with seven games in four days.  The Colonels will play Kennesaw State at 6 p.m. on Friday.  They will face Towson at 6 p.m. on Saturday.  EKU takes on Radford on Sunday at 5 p.m."