ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP)—Thomas Sander scored 19 points and helped Davidson come from behind to defeat Eastern Michigan 81-77 on Friday in the opening game of the John Thompson Challenge.
Trailing 44-28 at halftime, the Wildcats outscored Eastern Michigan 18-4 in the first 10 minutes of the second half to get back into the game. The Eagles recovered and led by as many as 10 points, but Davidson took its first lead of the half on Stephen Curry’s 3-pointer with 2:35 to play.
Jason Richards finished with 17 points and eight assists, and Curry added 15 points for Davidson (1-0), which also got 12 rebounds from Andrew Lovedale.
Carlos Medlock had 23 points, eight steals and five assists for Eastern Michigan (0-1), which turned over the ball 11 times in the second half. Jesse Bunkley added 12 points.
The Eagles, who started four players making their Division I debuts, went on a 16-0 run midway through the first half to take a 23-10 lead. Eastern Michigan made eight of its 15 attempts from behind the arc in the half and scored 21 points off Davidson’s 18 turnovers.
