MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Emory & Henry College Men's Basketball Team evened its season record at 5-5 Tuesday afternoon as it defeated Hendrix College (1-10) by a 73-63 score in the Rhodes Classic. With the victory, the Wasps equal their win total from last season.
The two teams battled during the first half with the Warriors taking the first big lead of the game, 10-4 with 14:34 on the clock. E&H scored six straight to knot the score, 10-10, with junior guard Myles Turner (Richmond, Va.) scoring five of his 12 points during the stretch. The squads kept it close for the remainder of the half with Hendrix taking a 35-34 lead into the locker room.
Coming out of the break, the Warriors pushed their lead to three, but the Wasps answered back to tie the game at 41-41 with 15:35 to play. That basket by sophomore guard John Shelor (Giles, Va.) started a 9-0 run which gave Emory & Henry the lead for good, 48-41 with just under 12 minutes to play. E&H extended its lead to nine during a stretch where sophomore forward Chase Branscomb (Bristol, Tenn.) scored 10 of the team's 12 points. The Wasps would lead by as much as 13 down the stretch, taking the game by the 73-63 score.
Branscomb was the leading scorer with 16 points on six-for-10 shooting to go along with five rebounds while junior guard Ryan Gravley (Austinville, Va.) had 13 points, four rebounds and three assists. Turner finished the game with 12 points while Shelor added 10 to give the Wasps four players in double figures. Junior forward Brandon Self (Norfolk, Va.) pulled down 10 boards to help E&H to a 41-37 rebounding advantage and an 11-6 lead on second-chance points.
Emory & Henry shot 46.7 percent (28-for-60) from the field with five three pointers, scoring 32 points in the paint, 26 off the bench and 13 off turnovers.
Hendrix was paced by John Ogle with a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds to complete the double-double. Drew Nikolovski had 10 points while Preston Smith added nine points and six assists. As a team, the Warriors shot just 21-for-59 (35.6%) from the floor, but connected on 73.7 percent (14-of-19) of their free throws.
E&H will take on the host Rhodes College Lynx on Wednesday afternoon in the final day of the Rhodes Classic. Tipoff is set for 3:00 p.m. Central time (4:00 p.m. Eastern).
---E&H---
-photo courtesy of Caleb Johnston, E&H '15