YPSILANTI, Mich. '- Over the course of a season, even great players have an off night.
Saturday at Eastern Michigan University, two Mid-American Conference Player of the Year candidates took one together.
Both Eastern Michigan power forward Brandon Bowdry and Ball State University center Jarrod Jones failed to score in double figures, but each team overcame their star's subpar game. The Eagles got just a bit more out of their team, coming away with a 57-53 victory.
Replacing Bowdry and Jones in the scoring column were Eagles' center Justin Dobbins and Cardinals' forward Malik Perry.
'Good teams, solid teams have multiple people that they can go to,' Eastern Michigan coach Charles Ramsey said. 'Malik Perry stepped up in that case for Ball State, and Justin Dobbins '- I'm disappointed he didn't get us more rebounds. But that's what he's capable of doing night in and night out.'
Dobbins scored a game-high 18 points and Perry had 17. He also added nine rebounds.
Ball State coach Billy Taylor was pleased with his team's defense of Bowdry. The Cardinals held Bowdry to nine points and nine rebounds.
'We just tried to play team defense on Bowdry,' Taylor said. 'He's another very tough cover, especially with Medlock back and the shooters that they have on the perimeter.'
The junior averages a double-double for Eastern Michigan, but shot only 40 percent Saturday.
'Bowdry drives the ball so hard,' Taylor said. 'He's very physical and he's an athletic forward, so you have to try to limit his easy touches, his deep post touches. He got a couple late in the game where he was right by the rim, and he's so athletic and strong that he's going to finish those.'
Without the typical offensive output from Bowdry, the Eagles turned to Dobbins. The Cleveland native scored 16 of his points in the second half.
Dobbins returned from a stress fracture in his leg fewer than two weeks ago. Ramsey said after sitting for six weeks, he is not 100 percent yet.
'You just don't get it back,' Ramsey said. 'You're seeing signs. I was really pleased at how active he was on the defensive end.'
Ball State suffered as Eastern Michigan contained Jones. The sophomore failed to reach double figures in points for the sixth consecutive game, finishing with seven points.
Perry came off the bench and tied his season high in points.
Ramsey was impressed with the junior's play.
'He was tremendous in the first half,' Ramsey said. 'He's as good as I've seen him in his career this half, and if they get that play out of him, hey, so be-it. He was good for them.'
Perry said that with Eastern Michigan focusing on other Cardinals, he was able to shine.
'They were just trying to force me out a lot more,' Perry said. 'They were putting a lot of attention on Jarrod and [Terrence Watson] and our shooters.'
The matchup of Dobbins and Perry was a familiar one. The two have met six times in their career, with Eastern Michigan holding a 4-2 advantage.
'Me and him have played together for three years,' Perry said. 'It's always a war with me and him. I respect his game; he's a big physical guy. It was just two big guys bumping around.'
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