ncaa 1990-91: “Sweet 16” The 1990-91 EMU Men’s Basketball Squad: The first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament “Sweet 16” participant. Front row (L-R); Kahlil Felder, Joe Frasor, Von Nickleberry, Carl Thomas, Head Coach Ben Braun, Charles Thomas, Lorenzo Neely, Lawrence Hill, Roger Lewis. Back row (L-R); Graduate Assistant Coach Craig Rasmuson, Assistant Coach Brian Miller, Marcus Kennedy, Pete Pangas, Mike Boykin, Kory Hallas, Tony King, Fenorris Pearson, Jeff Wendt, George Dyke, Chris Pipkin, Assistant Coach Gary Waters. March 15, 1991 - Carrier Dome, Syracuse, New York VISITORS: No. 12 Seed • Eastern Michigan University ON TO The “SweeT 16” No. Name St. Fg-Fga Fg-Fga Ft-Fta O-D Tot Pf TP A TO Blk St MIN How sweet it was! 32 Kory Hallas F 4-6 0-0 1-1 1-5 6 4 9 3 5 0 2 32 A veteran group of players proved that chemistry is indeed 31 Carl Thomas F 5-9 4-7 2-3 0-3 3 1 16 2 3 0 0 35 54 Marcus Kennedy C 9-13 0-0 4-6 4-12 16 2 22 1 4 0 3 35 important on a basketball team as the 1990-91 squad put 23 Charles Thomas G 2-6 2-5 3-4 1-3 4 0 9 6 0 0 1 33 EMU on the national basketball map with an extended run at 15 Lorenzo Neely G 6-16 0-0 5-8 1-6 7 0 17 5 3 0 0 37 51 Mike Boykin 0-1 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 7 the NCAA Championship. 41 Roger Lewis 0-1 0-0 1-2 1-0 1 0 1 3 0 0 0 16 Playing with four seniors in the starting lineup, the 1990-91 10 Kahlil Felder 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 3 35 Joe Frasor 1-1 0-0 0-0 1-0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 team advanced all the way to the “Sweet 16” in the NCAA 52 Pete Pangas 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 tournament before falling to national power North Carolina. Team 2-2 4 EMU TOTALS 27-54 6-12 16-25 11-32 43 10 76 21 16 0 7 200 During that wondrous run into the third round of the DB 4 NCAA tournament, the Green and White used a combination TOTAL FG %: 1st Half: 14-29 .482 2nd Half: 13-25 .520 Game: .500 of power basketball (Marcus Kennedy), high-flying acrobat- 3-Pt. FG %: 1st Half: 4-9 .444 2nd Half: 2-3 .667 Game: .500 F-Throw %: 1st Half: 3-5 .600 2nd Half: 13-20 .650 Game: .640 ics (the Thomas twins, Carl and Charles), end-to-end action HOME: No. 5 Seed • Mississippi State (Lorenzo Neely and Kory Hallas) and a bench that was small No. Name St. Fg-Fga Fg-Fga Ft-Fta O-D Tot Pf TP A TO Blk St MIN 23 Greg Carter F 6-19 1-5 0-0 3-3 6 3 13 3 2 0 2 40 in numbers but big on heart (Joe Frasor and Roger Lewis) 21 Cameron Burns F 8-18 0-1 6-8 3-4 7 1 22 2 3 2 0 34 to capture the nation’s imagination as a true “Cinderella” 33 Carl Nichols C 2-4 0-0 0-0 2-4 6 3 4 1 1 1 3 22 20 Doug Hartsfield G 2-8 1-3 0-0 1-1 2 3 5 4 2 0 1 34 team. 10 Brad Smith G 1-4 0-0 0-0 0-4 4 2 2 3 1 1 0 15 Eastern was able to make it to the NCAA tournament after 22 Tony Watts 3-7 2-3 2-2 2-1 3 3 10 2 2 0 3 28 25 Nate Morris 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 winning its second Mid-American Conference regular-season 12 Orien Watson 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 and post-season titles. 24 Keith Hooper 0-2 0-1 0-0 1-0 1 4 0 1 1 0 0 13 As MAC tournament champion, Eastern was automatically 32 Ira Peterson 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 Team 1-1 2 in the NCAA field of 64 and was sent to the Carrier Dome in MSU TOTALS 22-62 4-13 8-10 13-18 31 21 56 16 12 4 10 200 Syracuse, N.Y., for the first round., seeded No. 12. Head coach DB 0 TOTAL FG %: 1st Half: 13-31 .419 2nd Half: 9-31 .290 Game: .354 Ben Braun’s crew came up with two big wins in Syracuse. In 3-Pt. FG %: 1st Half: 1-3 .333 2nd Half: 3-10 .300 Game: .307 the first game, Eastern knocked off No. 5 seed Mississippi F-Throw %: 1st Half: 1-2 .500 2nd Half: 7-8 .875 Game: .800 State, 76-56, and followed that up with a 71-68 overtime win Score By Periods over No. 13 seed Penn State. Those victories propelled EMU Team 1st 2nd Final Eastern Michigan 35 41 76 into the “Sweet 16” where the No. 1 seeded Tarheels of North Mississippi State 28 28 56 Carolina, turned back a charged-up EMU team, 93-67. Carl Thomas was magnificent against North Carolina, EMU in the NCAA Tournament 1987-88 March 18, 1988 # 2 Pittsburgh 108, # 15 Eastern Michigan 90 scoring 27 points in 33 minutes to earn a spot on the All- 1990-91 March 15, 1991 # 12 Eastern Michigan 76, # 5 Mississippi State 56 Regional team. March 17, 1991 # 12 Eastern Michigan 71, # 13 Penn State 68 (OT) On the year, center Kennedy was named MAC Player of Sweet 16 March 22, 1991 # 1 North Carolina 93, # 12 Eastern Michigan 67 1995-96 March 14, 1996 # 9 Eastern Michigan 75, # 8 Duke 60 the Year and joining him on the All-MAC first team was Lorenzo March 15, 1996 # 1 Connecticut 95, # 9 Eastern Michigan 81 Neely while Carl Thomas was a second-team All-MAC pick. 1997-98 March 12, 1998 # 4 Michigan State 83, # 13 Eastern Michigan 71 Mid-American Conference Regular Season Champions 1988, 1991, 1996, 1998 145 MAC Tournament Champions 1988, 1991, 1996, 1998 ncaa 1990-91: “Sweet 16” VISITORS: No. 13 Seed • Penn State Eastern Michigan University Men’s Basketball No. Name St. Fg-Fga Fg-Fga Ft-Fta O-D Tot Pf TP A TO Blk St MIN NCAA Tournament Bests 42 James Barnes F 3-6 0-0 6-7 3-5 8 3 12 2 2 0 1 38 24 Deron Hayes F 6-13 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 3 12 3 0 0 0 43 23 Dave Degitz C 3-9 0-0 2-5 3-3 6 2 8 0 1 0 1 36 Category Single-Game Bests 21 Freddie Barnes G 3-11 3-8 3-4 1-5 6 1 12 4 2 0 0 42 Points 36 - Brian Tolbert (UCONN,3-16-96) 15 Monroe Brown G 5-6 2-2 0-1 1-1 2 4 12 4 1 1 2 37 Rebounds 16 - Marcus Kennedy (Miss.St., 3-15-91) 45 C.J. Johnson 2-4 0-0 2-2 1-2 3 2 6 0 0 0 1 15 33 Jon Dietz 0-3 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 Assists 9 - Lorenzo Neely (Pitt, 3-18-88) 4 Elton Carter 1-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 3 Blocks 5 - Theron Wilson (Duke, 3-14-96) 00 Michael Jennings 1-2 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 0 4 0 0 0 1 9 Steals 4 - Earl Boykins (Duke, 3-14-96) Team 1-5 6 PENN ST. TOTALS 24-56 6-12 14-21 10-22 32 18 68 13 6 1 6 225 4 - Brian Tolbert (UCONN, 3-16-96) DB 1 FG Made 14 - Brian Tolbert (UCONN,3-16-96) TOTAL FG %: 1st Half: 12-28 .429 2nd Half: 10-21 .476 OT: 2-7 .286 Game: .429 FG Att. 24 - Brian Tolbert (UCONN,3-16-96) 3-Pt. FG %: 1st Half: 5-6 .833 2nd Half: 1-3 .333 OT: 0-3 .000 Game: .500 3-Pt. Made 8 - Brad Soucie (Pitt, 3-18-88) F-Throw %: 1st Half: 4-6 .667 2nd Half: 4-8 .500 OT: 6-7 .857 Game: .667 HOME: No. 12 Seed • Eastern Michigan University 3-Pt. Att. 14 - Brad Soucie (Pitt, 3-18-88) No. Name St. Fg-Fga Fg-Fga Ft-Fta O-D Tot Pf TP A TO Blk St MIN FT Made 8 - Theron Wilson (UCONN, 3-16-96) 32 Kory Hallas F 4-10 0-0 4-4 4-4 8 5 12 3 1 1 1 35 FT Att. 9 - Earl Boykins (Duke, 3-14-96) 31 Carl Thomas F 2-8 1-6 2-4 0-7 7 3 7 4 3 0 0 42 54 Marcus Kennedy C 8-13 0-0 5-7 2-3 5 5 21 0 1 0 0 30 23 Charles Thomas G 3-7 2-6 3-3 1-5 6 2 11 3 2 0 2 43 Category Tournament Bests 15 Lorenzo Neely G 5-10 1-1 7-8 0-3 3 3 18 4 1 1 2 42 Points 62 - Marcus Kennedy, 1991 51 Mike Boykin 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-3 3 3 0 0 0 1 0 13 Rebounds 27 - Marcus Kennedy, 1991 41 Roger Lewis 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 9 10 Kahlil Felder 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Assists 14 - Lorenzo Neely, 1991 45 Fenorris Pearson 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Blocks 9 - Theron Wilson, 1996 Team 1-2 3 Steals 7 - Brian Tolbert, 1996 EMU TOTALS 27-54 6-12 16-25 11-32 43 10 76 21 16 0 7 200 DB 4 FG Made 25 - Marcus Kennedy, 1991 TOTAL FG %: 1st Half: 10-26 .385 2nd Half: 9-18 .500 OT: 4-6 .667 Game: .460 FG Att 42 - Brian Tolbert, 1996 3-Pt.