HARRISONBURG, Va. – The fifth-seeded Eastern Mennonite University Men's Basketball Team (16-10) scored 27 points on fast breaks en route to a 89-63 win over #12 Emory & Henry College (4-22) Tuesday evening in the first round of the 2014 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament. It was the second time in four days that the Wasps and Royals had faced one another at Yoder Arena.
The two teams battled back and forth for the first nine minutes of the game to a 14-12 EMU advantage. The Royals scored eight straight points to push their advantage to 10 with 9:04 on the clock, but the Wasps bounced back to tie the contest at 22 thanks to a 10-0 run. Eastern Mennonite responded with a 17-2 run to go up 39-24, hitting a quartet of three-pointers during the stretch and took a 40-26 lead into the break.
EMU led by double digits for the entire second half, but E&H fought hard with a pair of scoring runs to keep the game within reach. With a 56-43 advantage and 11:49 to go, the Royals went on a 15-4 run to remove any doubt in the outcome. Eastern Mennonite would lead by as much as 30 down the stretch but Emory & Henry made the final score 89-63 scoring five of the last seven points of the game.
Marcel Crump led all players with 21 points, and added five rebounds and four assists for the Royals. R.J. Sims and Ryan Yates pitched in 16 points apiece with Yates adding eight boards and four assists. David Falk notched 11 points and nine rebounds as well for EMU. As a team, Eastern Mennonite shot 49.2 percent (29-for-59) from the field and hit eight of its 19 three-point tries. The Royals held a 27-4 advantage on fast break points and outscored the Wasps, 38-22, inside the paint.
Emory & Henry was paced by senior forward Tyler Mullins (Hazard, Ky.), who finished his career with a 14-point, seven-rebound performance. Senior guard Malcolm Green (Marshville, N.C.) pitched in 14 points as well and added three rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Sophomore guard Kevin Anzenberger (Concord, N.C.) chipped in 13 points and three rebounds off the bench while senior forwards Charles Smith (Fayetteville, N.C.) and Cameron Coles (Charlottesville, Va.) added seven points each.
The Wasps went 21-for-54 (38.9%) from the field and hit seven three-pointers in the game but fell victim to 22 turnovers. E&H held a 41-31 advantage on rebounding including a 13-10 margin on the offensive glass but only managed seven second chance points.
E&H will now await the announcement of the 2013-14 All-ODAC teams. The league's yearly honors will be presented at the conference banquet on Thursday evening at the Salem Civic Center in conjunction with other ODAC Tournament festivities.
---E&H---