So the boys won last night 57-55. A 2 point win at their house like they had a 2 point win at EMU. Fun game to watch especially the 2nd half. Reed did not dress and is evidently done for the season with his bad ankle. He also told the coach his plans for next year which includes transferring to the University of North Florida in Jacksonville (where Jade lives) and changing his emphasis to music although he still wants to get a major in Phys Ed. I did make the 2 hour jaunt to Lynchburg and managed to visit Appomattox Court House where Lee surrendered to Grant.--------------------------
Here are the standings and recap.
In the ODAC, a good goal is to hold serve at home and pick out a few wins on the road. The Eastern Mennonite men got one of those much-needed road wins Saturday afternoon, holding off Lynchburg College by a final of 59-57.
The Runnin Royals improve to 14-7 overall and 7-5 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. More importantly, EMU keeps a grip on fourth place in the league standings while sinking Lynchburg in a four-way tie for sixth place at 5-7. The top four seeds in the ODAC Tournament get byes directly into the quarterfinals.
It was just the third road win of the year for the men. They are 7-1 at home as they look to close out the year with three of four games in Yoder Arena.
The Runnin Royals finally approach the large circle on their calendar which represents the biggest home game of the year. EMU hosts nationally-ranked Virginia Wesleyan this Wednesday night at 7:00pm. The Marlins, 18-3 overall and 10-2 in the ODAC, were ranked No. 8 in last week's national poll and are likely to move up a spot or two this week. Wednesday's game in Yoder Arena is designated a White Out, as are all remaining home games, so Royals fans are encouraged to wear white to support the basketball men.
Despite the positive outcome, the game at Lynchburg had a worrisome start. EMU made just one three pointer and shot a mere 26.7% in the first half. Fortunately the Hornets weren't shooting much better and the game stayed close. Then the men didn't score over the final 3:21 of the frame and LC ended on an 8-0 run to inflate to their biggest lead of the game by halftime, 29-19.
The 19 points represented EMU's lowest-scoring first half of the year.
The Runnin Royals came out a different team in the second, however, methodically scoring the first 12 points to get in front. The run was capped by Marcel Crump (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) grabbing a steal and getting held for an intentional foul. With free throws and the possession, Crump hit one toss and James Williams (Capitol Heights, Md./Archbishop Carroll) added a three pointer on the inbounds play to complete a four-point swing to make the score 31-29 just four minutes in.
The Hornets managed a few points at the free throw line, but Eastern Mennonite kept rolling. Crump hit a layup with 9:22 left to play, wrapping up a 28-7 stretch to start the second half, surging EMU to a 47-36 lead.
Lynchburg responded with a quick 7-0 run, but Williams single-handedly scored the next nine points of the game to push the edge back to 56-43. After a Hornet free throw, Crump hit a layup for EMU's biggest lead of the game at 58-44 with 4:04 to go.
After scoring 39 points over the first 16 minutes of the half, the Royals went cold. The men twice missed the front end of a bonus free throw situation, and LC took full advantage of the open door. Helped along mostly by offensive rebounds, the Hornets scored the next 12 points. Finally a rare four-point play by Daniel Rowe sliced EMU's lead to 58-56 with 58 seconds left.
Williams hit one-of-two free throws to nudge the cushion to three points with 32 ticks to go. The Hornets missed a three pointer on their next possession and EMU rebounded, but the home team forced a turnover and called a timeout with nine seconds left.
Austen Arnold missed two potentially game-tying three pointers, but each time grabbed his own offensive rebound. Arnold was finally fouled on a long two-point attempt with one second left, giving him just two free throw attempts. LC's junior hit the first toss to make it a two-point game at 59-57, but he missed the rim when he tried to miss the second attempt, giving the Royals the automatic rebound. EMU got the ball into play and time ran out and the men escaped with the quality road win.
Eastern Mennonite out-shot LC 71% to 19% in the decisive second half. They had a 45% to 28% edge for the game to make up for a -8 turnover margin and giving up 16 offensive rebounds.
Williams led the Royals with 17 points and four assists. The senior point guard has now scored in double figures in six of the last eight games. David Falk (Madison, Va./Madison County) put up 11 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots.
Crump tallied 13 counters, while RaShawn Latimer (Warrenton, Va./Kettle Run) hit a pair of three pointers and added eight points off the bench.
Despite going 0-5 from downtown, Arnold led Lynchburg with 20 points and eight rebounds. Rowe and Zack Burnett each scored 10.
Here are the standings and recap.
In the ODAC, a good goal is to hold serve at home and pick out a few wins on the road. The Eastern Mennonite men got one of those much-needed road wins Saturday afternoon, holding off Lynchburg College by a final of 59-57.
The Runnin Royals improve to 14-7 overall and 7-5 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. More importantly, EMU keeps a grip on fourth place in the league standings while sinking Lynchburg in a four-way tie for sixth place at 5-7. The top four seeds in the ODAC Tournament get byes directly into the quarterfinals.
It was just the third road win of the year for the men. They are 7-1 at home as they look to close out the year with three of four games in Yoder Arena.
The Runnin Royals finally approach the large circle on their calendar which represents the biggest home game of the year. EMU hosts nationally-ranked Virginia Wesleyan this Wednesday night at 7:00pm. The Marlins, 18-3 overall and 10-2 in the ODAC, were ranked No. 8 in last week's national poll and are likely to move up a spot or two this week. Wednesday's game in Yoder Arena is designated a White Out, as are all remaining home games, so Royals fans are encouraged to wear white to support the basketball men.
Despite the positive outcome, the game at Lynchburg had a worrisome start. EMU made just one three pointer and shot a mere 26.7% in the first half. Fortunately the Hornets weren't shooting much better and the game stayed close. Then the men didn't score over the final 3:21 of the frame and LC ended on an 8-0 run to inflate to their biggest lead of the game by halftime, 29-19.
The 19 points represented EMU's lowest-scoring first half of the year.
The Runnin Royals came out a different team in the second, however, methodically scoring the first 12 points to get in front. The run was capped by Marcel Crump (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) grabbing a steal and getting held for an intentional foul. With free throws and the possession, Crump hit one toss and James Williams (Capitol Heights, Md./Archbishop Carroll) added a three pointer on the inbounds play to complete a four-point swing to make the score 31-29 just four minutes in.
The Hornets managed a few points at the free throw line, but Eastern Mennonite kept rolling. Crump hit a layup with 9:22 left to play, wrapping up a 28-7 stretch to start the second half, surging EMU to a 47-36 lead.
Lynchburg responded with a quick 7-0 run, but Williams single-handedly scored the next nine points of the game to push the edge back to 56-43. After a Hornet free throw, Crump hit a layup for EMU's biggest lead of the game at 58-44 with 4:04 to go.
After scoring 39 points over the first 16 minutes of the half, the Royals went cold. The men twice missed the front end of a bonus free throw situation, and LC took full advantage of the open door. Helped along mostly by offensive rebounds, the Hornets scored the next 12 points. Finally a rare four-point play by Daniel Rowe sliced EMU's lead to 58-56 with 58 seconds left.
Williams hit one-of-two free throws to nudge the cushion to three points with 32 ticks to go. The Hornets missed a three pointer on their next possession and EMU rebounded, but the home team forced a turnover and called a timeout with nine seconds left.
Austen Arnold missed two potentially game-tying three pointers, but each time grabbed his own offensive rebound. Arnold was finally fouled on a long two-point attempt with one second left, giving him just two free throw attempts. LC's junior hit the first toss to make it a two-point game at 59-57, but he missed the rim when he tried to miss the second attempt, giving the Royals the automatic rebound. EMU got the ball into play and time ran out and the men escaped with the quality road win.
Eastern Mennonite out-shot LC 71% to 19% in the decisive second half. They had a 45% to 28% edge for the game to make up for a -8 turnover margin and giving up 16 offensive rebounds.
Williams led the Royals with 17 points and four assists. The senior point guard has now scored in double figures in six of the last eight games. David Falk (Madison, Va./Madison County) put up 11 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots.
Crump tallied 13 counters, while RaShawn Latimer (Warrenton, Va./Kettle Run) hit a pair of three pointers and added eight points off the bench.
Despite going 0-5 from downtown, Arnold led Lynchburg with 20 points and eight rebounds. Rowe and Zack Burnett each scored 10.
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