Well I didn't go down to Guilford NC as it was 3 1/2 hours away and Reed hadn't been in a basketball uniform in over 2 weeks. Imagine my surprise when I tune in the Internet feed and there he is warming up with the team. He didn't play though and the Royals lost to Guilford College 64-48. EMU couldn't seem to do anything right as they got outshot and outrebounded badly. At least Reed got a little exercise warming up. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Some days just don't go your way, and Saturday was one of those days for the EMU basketball men. The Runnin Royals shot just 35% from the floor, their second lowest mark of the season, in a 64-48 loss at Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C. The men also had easily their lowest-scoring effort of the year, with their previous low at 65 points. Eastern Mennonite settles at 13-6 on the season, including 6-4 in the ODAC, with the loss to the second-place Quakers. EMU holds on to fourth in the conference standings, with both Randolph and Bridgewater one game behind at 5-5. Guilford scored first on their home court off a three pointer from All-ODAC guard Matt McCarthy. A pair of dunks from David Falk (Madison, Va./Madison County) put the Royals in front 4-3, in what turned out to be their only lead of the game. GC scored on their next three possessions to go back on top, 10-4. Every time Eastern Mennonite tried to gather some momentum, the Quakers answered with a spurt to keep in control. Guilford led by as many as 12 in the first half and was up 39-31 at halftime. Things got even worse in the second half for EMU, as they mustered just five points over the opening 11 minutes and change and watched the deficit grow to 61-36. With the subs on the floor, the Royals eventually ended the game on a 12-3 run, but the 17-point output in the second half was too much to overcome. EMU shot 19-54 from the floor for 35.2%, including 4-18 from three point range. Guilford was 26-57 for 45.6%, including 8-20 from outside. James Williams (Capitol Heights, Md./Archbishop Carroll) hit a couple of threes and led the Royals with 10 points. Falk had nine points and five rebounds. GC's Jonny Rice led all players with 19 points and nine rebounds. McCarthy finished with five triples for 15 points. The road doesn't get any easier for Eastern Mennonite, as the men play at Randolph-Macon Wednesday night in Ashland. The No. 8 Yellow Jackets take a 14-game winning streak and perfect 10-0 ODAC mark in the game.

MRI on Reed's ankle showed a lot of damage but nothing really serious. Just a lot of rest needed. Reed hoped to be practicing again in 2 weeks. And tonight EMU beat Shenandoah 71-53 to up it standing in the Old Dominion Conference. It took a bit for the Royals to get running Wednesday night, but they finished the night with a 71-53 win over visiting Shenandoah University. With their largest margin of victory of the year, Eastern Mennonite's men improve to 13-5 overall and 6-3 in the ODAC. EMU had an uninspired start to the game, being locked in a 19-19 tie against the ODAC's last place team with 7:37 left to play in the first. But the men turned on the defense, holding the Hornets to just one point over the next 7:29. The defense led to a 14-1 run, which helped the men go into halftime with a comfortable 36-23 lead. David Falk (Madison, Va./Madison County) opened the second half scoring with a free throw, but Shenandoah then scored 12 unanswered points to slice the lead down to two at 37-35. The Royals scored six straight to rebuild a small cushion, but SU returned with a 6-0 run of their own. Finally an EJ Baltimore (Bristow, Va./Patriot) three pointer, just EMU's second bomb of the game, triggered a decisive run. The men exploded on a 12-0 streak, capped by a bang bang sequence of Falk hammering a dunk and Ryan Yates (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) stealing the inbounds pass and laying it in to push the lead to 55-41. Shenandoah tried to steady the ship with a three-point play, but Falk sealed the decision. After EMU's big man grabbed an offensive board and hit a jumper to make it 57-44, he picked out a steal, charged down the court and was yanked down by an SU defender. The officials whistled a flagrant foul, giving Falk two free throws, which he made, and the Royals the ball back. Woody Furbush (Bridgeton, N.J./Salem) added a layup on a nice interior pass from Yates, and the Runnin Royals blew the lead to 61-44 with 6:04 to go. The margin got no closer than 13 points the rest of the way as EMU cruised to the win. The Royals out-shot SU 48% to 30%, and took care of the defensive boards to win the rebounding battle, 46-36. Falk finished with 16 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots. Marcel Crump (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) came in with 17 points and three assists while Yates had 13 points, six rebounds and a game high four assists. Malcolm Clark topped Shenandoah with 18 points, but the men hassled him into 6-19 shooting. Xavier Alston charted 12 rebounds, eight points and three blocks. The win gives Eastern Mennonite a firm grasp on fourth place in the ODAC. They are now two games ahead of a five-way tie for fifth place. Both Virginia Wesleyan and Guilford sit one game ahead of the Royals at 7-2 in league play. The Royals now enter the toughest stretch of their schedule with three road games against upper tier ODAC teams. The men play at Guilford this Saturday afternoon at 4:00pm, followed by road dates at first place Randolph-Macon and Lynchburg. That road stretch ends with a hosting of nationally ranked Virginia Wesleyan on Feb. 11.

Good news was that EMU won today against Randolph College. Bad news was that Reed hurt his ankle again and was walking around in a plastic walking cast. Evidently he hurt it when he got up from laying on a couch in the dorm. A true Meyer. He may even set new standards for being Meyer. As far as the game, their tallest starter was the same as our shortest. But they could play and were ahead much of the game. EMU rallied at the end and the fans didn't need to take their fury out on the refs. Final score 72-68. The Runnin Royals proved they can win without running Saturday afternoon, closing on a 15-4 run to thump Randolph College at home, 72-68. In a contest ripe with storylines, Eastern Mennonite broke out of a four-way tie to take sole possession of fourth place in the ODAC. EMU entered the day tied with Randolph, Hampden-Sydney and Bridgewater for fourth in the league standings, but all three of them lost. The men now have a win over each of those teams muddled in the middle of the ODAC pack. The visiting WildCats, hamstrung with a healthy roster lacking in height, executed their game plan as designed, shutting down EMU's All-ODAC big man, David Falk (Madison, Va./Madison County), by swarming him with defenders every time he touched the ball. Randolph also got back on defense after every shot attempt, resulting in a halfcourt game with a combined two offensive rebounds and six fastbreak points. How would the up-tempo Royals handle that type of a game? Eastern Mennonite responded by running their offensive sets and finding the open man. They shot 12-of-23 from the floor in the first half, including 6-10 from outside, to take a 36-34 lead into halftime, thanks to an inside jumper from Marcel Crump (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) in the closing seconds. Randolph was almost a mirror image, shooting 12-for-25 with 5-10 from three point range. The second half was just as tight until the WildCats scored nine straight points to build their largest lead of the day at 52-43 with 11:19 to go. Behind some hot shooting from freshman Jerome Jones (Charles Town, W.V./Washington), the Royals stormed back to within four points, but Randolph wouldn't give up the lead. The visitors matched EMU shot-for-shot, leaving the lead between four and seven points until the game hit a pivotal moment with 5:04 remaining. With EMU on offense, Falk jumped to gain possession of a loose ball. As he came down and turned, he collided with a Randolph defender and was whistled for elbowing and tagged with his fourth foul. The home crowd sat in disbelief and Coach Kirby Dean was livid. The WildCats calmly went into their offensive set, drew a foul and connected on both free throws to put the lead back at 64-57. The five Royals on the floor, however, decided it was their time. Ryan Yates (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) hit a jumper to trigger a run. Falk swatted a shot to start a fastbreak, which Yates converted to slice the deficit to 64-61. After a defensive stand, James Williams (Capitol Heights, Md./Archbishop Carroll) found Jones for another three ball, this time knotting the score at 64-64 with 2:52 left and igniting the home crowd. After another big block from Falk, EMU's big man hit a jumper in the paint to put EMU in front for the first time since the 17:31 mark. Randolph looked rattled and turned the ball over on their next two possessions, leading to a knockout punch from Williams. The point guard sliced into the lane for the hoop and harm, converting a three-point play to push the lead to 69-64 with 16.1 seconds left. Williams' effort capped a decisive 12-0 run, as the Royals clamped down Randolph for a stretch of 4:34 in the final five minutes of the game. The final seconds were packed with WildCat layups and EMU free throws, but the men went 3-4 from the stripe to seal the key 72-68 win. The teams combined to shoot 50% from the floor and 54% from long range. Eastern Mennonite was 24-47 in shooting, including a season-best 10-17 from three. Randolph shot 24-49 overall and 10-20 from outside. The Royals made the difference up in quantity at the free throw line, hitting 14-21 compared to 10-11 for the visitors. Jones made Randolph pay for every open look he got, burying 6-of-7 three pointers for a career high 22 points. Williams picked his moments and was 6-6 from the free throw line for 14 points. Yates hit a trio of threes and added 13 points. Falk had a game high nine rebounds and three blocks. Crump turned into a distributor with a career high eight assists. He previous best was four handouts. Reid Jacoby led a balanced Randolph attack with 14 points, as he hit four treys. Zach Desgain had 13 points, six assists and five rebounds. Jason Eddie added 12 counters. The Runnin Royals are now 12-5 overall and 5-3 in the ODAC. Randolph slips to 10-7 and 4-4. EMU stays at home on Wednesday to host Shenandoah, who just earned their first ODAC win of the season in an overtime effort over Hampden-Sydney.

Whoops! Forgot to put up the results of Wednesday's game. EMU lost to Washington and Lee 76-75 in Lexington which I guess is only fair as we beat them by one point when we were home. Reed didn't dress, of course, and has his ankle MRI on Monday. I took some time to visit W&L and Virginia Military Institute which is right next door. Architecture of the two schools is quite different and the history of the town is very interesting. The Runnin Royals should be getting used to stressful endings this year. EMU's basketball men had a shot at the buzzer fall off the mark in a 76-75 loss at Washington and Lee Wednesday night, coming just four days after a double overtime win. The men slide to 11-5 overall and 4-3 in the ODAC as eight of their games this year have been decided by a single possession. Ryan Yates (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) had tied the score at 75-75 with a three pointer with 14.8 ticks left. Washington and Lee's point guard, Andy Kleinlein, then got inside and drew a foul with five seconds left, converting just one of his two attempts. After a timeout with the length of the floor to go, Marcel Crump (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) missed a running jumper from 10 feet as time expired, leaving the Royals one point short. The ending fittingly recapped a dramatic contest. Offense was the name of the game in the first, as the Runnin Royals jumped out to a 19-6 on the visitor's court, just seven minutes into play. W&L quickly got back within six, but Eastern Mennonite bumped the lead back to 31-19. An 11-4 run got the Generals back within one at 38-37, however, which was also the same as the halftime margin, 46-45. After the teams each shot higher than 51% with some big runs over the first 20 minutes, the fireworks slowed in the second. Neither team let their opponent get on a run over the second 20, and each squad had their biggest lead at four points. The Royals were up 62-58 after a James Williams (Capitol Heights, Md./Archbishop Carroll) jumper with 7:57 left. Washington and Lee had leads of 70-66 and 74-70, the final with 1:00 minute to play. Williams banked in a bucket with 33 seconds left, and W&L got just one of two free throws with 32 ticks to go. Yates then tied the game with his triple before Kleinlein hit the game-winning free throw. The finish was an odd mirror of EMU's 78-77 win when the two teams met in Harrisonburg on Dec. 3. David Falk (Madison, Va./Madison County) made a single free throw with 4.7 seconds left in that game. The Royals had a slight 48.2% to 46.7% shooting edge, but W&L got the win in Wednesday's game by grabbing three more offensive boards and forcing EMU into two more turnovers. Williams scored a season high 18 on 7-8 shooting to lead the men. He also set a new career high with nine assists. Yates finished with 14 points while Crump worked his way to 11. Washington and Lee was led by Clayton Murtha, who won the battle of the bigs against EMU's Falk. Murtha banged in 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists while saddling Falk with foul trouble. Patrick O'Connor dumped in 19 off the bench. The Royals, who fell into a four-way tie for fourth in the ODAC with the loss, return to Yoder Arena on Saturday, welcoming in Randolph College at 3:00pm. The WildCats are also tied with EMU at 4-3 in the conference.

Fun game tonight as EMU beat Hampden-Sidney 90-81 in 2 OTs. Reed didn't dress and also told me that they are scheduling an MRI for his ankle. Oh and I forgot to mention that I broke 100 last Thursday for the first time ever. 53 on the front and 46 on the back. Falk Grabs ODAC Player Of The Week Honors Jan 19, 2015 David Falk (Madison, Va./Madison County) has been named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Player of the Week after collecting double doubles in each of EMU's dramatic wins last week. This is the second such award for the senior, as he also won it late last season. The Runnin Royals' athletic center averaged 15.5 points, 19.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in wins over rival Bridgewater and Hampden-Sydney. He shot 50% from the floor, hitting 11-of-22 shots to go with 9-of-17 free throws. He now has 10 double doubles this season. Falk had 14 points, 18 rebounds and three blocks against BC on Wednesday, helping the men erase a 15-point deficit from the first half. He started a decisive 11-0 run with an alley-oop dunk in the final five minutes of the game as the Royals won 77-67. Then in the double overtime win at Hampden-Sydney, Falk forced both overtime sessions with late buckets, including an offensive putback near the end of the first OT. He finished with 17 points and 21 rebounds in that 90-81 road win. Falk is second in the nation with 147 free throw attempts over EMU's first 15 games. Averaging 9.8 attempts per game, he is on pace to easily surpass Vaughn Troyer's program record of 205 free throw attempts in a season, set by the Hall of Honor member as a senior in 1992-93. Eastern Mennonite still has 10 games left in the regular season. Falk is also third in the nation in rebounding and seventh in blocks. The Runnin Royals are 11-4 this season, including 4-2 in the ODAC. They play at Washington and Lee on Wednesday, with a 7:00pm start time in Lexington. Game In a game packed with 12 ties and 11 lead changes, the Runnin Royals forced their way to a double overtime victory at Hampden-Sydney, winning 90-81. David Falk (Madison, Va./Madison County) hit game-tying shots at the end of regulation and the first OT, and Marcel Crump (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) took over in the second OT as EMU's basketball men picked up a quality ODAC road win. Both offenses looked anemic at the opening tip. H-SC didn't score over the first 5:43 of the game, but EMU could only manage a 5-0 lead. The Tigers later exploded for 10 quick points in less than two minutes late in the half to go up 35-23, but Eastern Mennonite scored the final seven of the frame to make it a five-point game at the half, 35-30. The men played down by two possessions or less for most of the second half, getting within 65-63 when James Williams (Capitol Heights, Md./Archbishop Carroll) hit two free throws with 1:41 left in regulation. After misses by both teams, Crump sliced to the hoop and tied the score at 65-65 with 42 ticks left. Hampden-Sydney's Mike Murray put his team back ahead with a layup with 17 seconds to go, but Williams assisted Falk on a dunk with five seconds left. Murray missed a three at the buzzer as the game went into extra time. The Tigers scored first in the first OT, but neither team could string any runs together. Ryan Yates (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) hit a triple with 1:49 showing to put EMU in front, 76-75, but after two offensive rebounds H-SC's Greg Lewis answered with a three of his own. Yates missed a jumper with 24 seconds to go, but Falk was there for an offensive putback, tying things up at 78-78. The Tigers called a timeout to set up their last play, but Murray missed a three at the buzzer again, setting up the second overtime period. Crump got things going by getting a putback after a missed free throw from Falk. The teams both missed opportunities before Crump hit a pair of tosses to make it 82-78 at the 2:53 mark. The Tigers finally got a score at the midway point of session, but Crump scored again to keep the lead at four. Hampden-Sydney missed a pair of free throws with 1:33 to play, and Falk answered with two free throws to push the lead to 86-80 with 1:24 left. The Tigers then turned the ball over, leaving EMU in control. Crump hit on a layup and added two late free throws as he scored 10 of the men's 12 points in the final OT. The Royals won by their largest lead of the day, 90-81. Shooting percentages were a fraction over 41% for both teams, and EMU had a slight 48-47 edge in rebounds. Hampden-Sydney shot a blistering 13-28 from three point range, but the Runnin Royals won the game at the free throw line. They were 23-31 from the stripe for 74%, compared to just 6-14 for the Tigers. Crump exploded for a game high 33 points on 11-15 shooting. The wing was also 9-9 from the free throw line, and is a perfect 16-16 from the line in his last two games. Crump's career high is 35 points from a win at Shenandoah last season. Falk hauled in 21 rebounds, including seven offensive, to go with 17 points. Jerome Jones (Charles Town, W.V./Washington) and Yates each finished with 12 points, with Yates also grabbing eight rebounds. Williams had four assists. Mitch Owens hit five triples and led Hampden-Sydney with 25 points. Lewis added 17 off the bench and Murray racked up 14 assists. The Royals improve to 11-4 and 4-2 in the ODAC with the win. H-SC is 10-5 and 3-3. The men play at Washington and Lee on Wednesday, with a 7:00pm start in Lexington. EMU beat the Generals 78-77 in Harrisonburg on Dec. 3.

OK so I scanned a copy of Reed's x-ray and next to the white dot you see the problem area. AND evidently it looks like he might have or did have a cracked bone there if you look a couple centimeters to the left of said dot.

Got to the game tonight against Bridgewater to find out that Reed had sprained his ankle again on Monday at practice so he wasn't going to dress. Interesting game never-the-less as EMU got behind 25-10 halfway through the first half, went ahead 36-35 after the start of the second half and ended up winning 77-67. With the win they are tied for third in the ODAC.

So as I was going through the songs on my long lost SoundCloud acct I found my digital copy of G-M-L By-The-Bay. Hope you like it. See if you can tell where I'm mentioned.

Well that sucked. Last night after leading most of the game, EMU lost to Lynchburg College 72-70. Reed didn't play as he only practiced Friday having problems with the ankle. Friday morning we had an x-ray taken of said ankle and it seemed to show that he might have cracked it some time ago possibly back on Guam in a league game as I remember. That game he did hurt it worse than usual when he just would roll it. Anyway here's the recap from the URL http://www.emuroyals.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/releases/201501105pj1iv Managed to get the interview posted to Soundcloud. Reed's the one "trying to get healthy." __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The EMU basketball men found out that Lynchburg College has no problem with tight finishes, as the visiting Hornets got a game-winning three pointer with 12.6 seconds left and stole a 72-70 decision Saturday night in Harrisonburg. Conversely, the Runnin Royals only hurt themselves down the stretch, missing their final seven free throw attempts to get saddled with the loss. Missing free throws was the Achilles heel for Eastern Mennonite, as a 3-for-17 effort in the second half erased what had been a 10-point lead over an LC team which is receiving votes in the national poll. The Hornets had their own issues from the stripe, as a miss on the front end of a one-and-one with 3.7 seconds left gave EMU life. But a good-looking three pointer in traffic from Jerome Jones (Charles Town, W.V./Washington) fell short as time expired and snapped the men's four-game winning streak. Both teams settle at 9-4 after the game, including 2-2 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The Hornets broke a three-game skid with the decision. Of their four losses this year, three have come against nationally ranked teams for a combined total of four points. The first half was tight, as neither team led by more than four points over the first 19 minutes. But EMU's freshmen scored the final six points of the period to give the Royals a 35-28 lead at intermission. The momentum carried into the second when Jones opened things up with a three ball to give the men their biggest lead of the night at 38-28. But Lynchburg regrouped and used a 12-2 run over a three-minute span to lock things back up at 52-52. Ryan Yates (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) threw down a thunderous dunk to give the men a 67-66 edge with 3:16 to go, and a free throw from big man David Falk (Madison, Va./Madison County) put the lead at 70-67 with 1:44 left. LC's Omar Kemp made two tosses to slice the lead to one point with 1:25 showing, and the Royals missed two free throws after an offensive rebound on their next possession. Yates gave the men a huge lift when he stole a pass with 30 seconds to go, giving EMU the ball with the one-point edge and the shot clock off. The Hornets fouled senior Marcel Crump (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) with 25.4 left, but he missed both free throws and LC rebounded. The visitors found Zack Burnett open on the left side, and he buried his fourth three pointer of the night to put Lynchburg ahead 72-70 with 12.6 to go. After a timeout, Crump crashed to the hoop and was fouled again, this time with 6.5 left. His first free throw tantalizingly rimmed out, and his second skimmed off as well. Yates nearly grabbed an offensive board but he couldn't get a clean hand on the ball before it trickled out of bounds. The Royals then quickly fouled LC's Austen Arnold, who missed the front end of the bonus giving the Royals one last gasp with three seconds to play. After another timeout, Jones got the ball in front of the scorer's table and pushed past two defenders on the left wing, but his bomb at the buzzer was off target. Free throws were the deciding factor in the game. Lynchburg was only 12-21 from the stripe for 57%, but EMU finished 10-28 for 36%. The men were a frigid 3-17 in the second half. Crump charted a team high 17 points but was just 3-11 from the stripe. Falk notched 14 points and 16 rebounds but was 2-9 in free throws. Jones hit four of the team's six three pointers and scored 12 points with five boards. Yates had five rebounds, including four offensive, to go with four assists. James Williams (Capitol Heights, Md./Archbishop Carroll) also had four helpers. Alex Graves was unstoppable, hitting 13-of-16 shots to lead Lynchburg with 26 points. Burnett had 18 points, including the game-winning three ball, to go with three steals. The Royals stay at home for a big rivalry game on Wednesday, hosting Bridgewater College in Yoder Arena. The Eagles (8-5/3-1 ODAC) broke a three-game skid with a 76-75 win over Hampden-Sydney in Bridgewater Saturday afternoon. Coach Kirby Dean talks about the disappointing loss to Lynchburg:

Reed was on the DL tonight with a bad ankle as EMU beat Shenandoah University 83-73. Second half was better than the first. Not much else to say. Here are the ODAC Standings: EMU's Runnin Royals shot 52% in the second half, including 7-for-10 from outside, as they erased a halftime deficit and picked up an 83-73 win at Shenandoah University Wednesday night. Early on, the men looked as rusty as might be expected after not playing for 17 days before extending their winning streak to a season-best four games. The teams played a back-and-forth first half until the host Hornets ended the period on a 13-6 streak to lead 41-34 at the break. Eastern Mennonite shot just 36% over the opening 20 minutes. That trend changed quickly in the second. Marcel Crump (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) hit back-to-back three pointers to give EMU the lead, and center David Falk (Madison, Va./Madison County) converted a three point play to cap a 14-0 run which put the men in front 53-45. Crump had 10 points during the game-changing stretch. The Royals then heated up from outside, as Jerome Jones (Charles Town, W.V./Washington) nailed back-to-back triples to push the edge to 63-50. Eastern Mennonite led by as many as 15 before Shenandoah started their comeback over the final five minutes. A 12-1 run sliced the lead to 75-71 with 1:57 to play. Ryan Yates (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) had a big answer, however, as his layup changed the momentum and put the edge back at six points. That took the air out of SU's sails and the Royals closed on a 6-2 run, including four free throws, to earn the 10-point win. EMU out-shot their hosts 43% to 38%, and also shot a season-best 10-19 for 53% from three point range. The men grabbed 23 offensive rebounds en route to a 56-36 domination of the glass. Yates led a balanced attack with 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Crump finished with 16 counters. Falk had 13 points and a season-high 18 boards. Jones hit four triples and charted 14 points. Jared Carithers led the Hornets with 23 points while Malcolm Clark added 18 points, seven rebounds, six steals and four assists. Eastern Mennonite improves to 9-3 on the season, including 2-1 in the ODAC, while Shenandoah slides to 1-11 and 0-3. The Royals return home on Saturday for their first game in Yoder Arena since Dec. 16. They host surprising Lynchburg College at 7:00pm. At 8-4, LC hasn't lost a game by more than four points this season.