EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Men's Basketball Team (13-10, 7-7 ODAC) scored 11 straight points over 3:40 in the second half to take a five-point lead with seven minutes left to go in the game as it was able to hold off Hampden-Sydney College (14-9, 6-8 ODAC) by a 65-63 score Saturday afternoon in Old Dominion Athletic Conference action at Bob Johnson Court.
E&H honored junior guard Myles Turner (Richmond, Va.) at center court prior to the start of the game after scoring his 1,000th career point in Wednesday's overtime victory at Guilford.
The Wasps led by as much as 10 points in the final five minutes of the first half, 33-23, but the Tigers closed the gap to 34-32 at the intermission with a 9-1 scoring spurt. Coming out of the break HSC extended its run to 20-3 for a 43-36 advantage with 15:05 on the clock. The two teams traded baskets for the next four minutes before Emory & Henry put up its 11-0 run to regain the advantage.
Emory & Henry got up by six, 63-57, with 4:57 to go before a 6-0 run by Hampden-Sydney tied things up at 63-all. The Wasps got the winning jumper from sophomore forward Chase Branscomb (Bristol, Tenn.) with 58 seconds remaining and held off three attempts by the Tigers to win, 65-63.
E&H was led offensively by freshman guard Clif Conley (Galax, Va.) with 13 points and three assists as he hit three three-pointers in the game. Freshman forward Aaron Ferguson (Princeton, W.Va.) had 12 points on six-for-eight shooting and added four rebounds while junior guard Ryan Gravley (Austinville, Va.)notched 12 points and three assists. Branscomb finished the game with nine points and eight rebounds off the bench.
As a team, the Wasps shot 39.7 percent (25-for-63) from the field and hit eight three pointers. E&H led, 11-9 in points off turnovers, taking advantage of 13 HSC miscues.
Hampden-Sydney's Mike Murray led all scorers with 14 points on seven-for-10 shooting and added four rebounds. Andrew Evans notched 13 points and seven boards while Guilherme Guimaraes put up a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Tigers shot 24-for-51 (47.1%) for the game, but were cold from long range (18.8%) hitting just three attempts. HSC also led, 36-32, on the boards but the rebounding advantage did not translate to an advantage on second-chance points.
Emory & Henry will have its final road game of the regular season on Tuesday when it travels to Lynchburg to take on Randolph College. The Wasps and WildCats are set to tip-off at 7:00 p.m.
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-photo courtesy of Caleb Johnston, E&H '15