EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry University Men's Basketball Team (6-22, 4-20 SAC) held a narrow one-point lead through the opening 20 minutes of play against Limestone University (11-16, 8-15 SAC) Wednesday night, but could not hold on as the Saints escaped with the South Atlantic Conference victory. LU stormed back to earn the win by a 90-80 final scoreline.
The Basics
FINAL SCORE – Limestone 90, Emory & Henry 80
LOCATION – Emory, Virginia
VENUE – Bob Johnson Court at the John Rutledge King Center
RECORDS – Emory & Henry (6-22, 4-20 SAC); Limestone (11-16, 8-15 SAC)
How It Happened
- The Wasps were hot to begin the game as a made layup from freshman guard Korbin Dixon (Milton, Ontario, CANADA) gave them an early 14-5 lead, forcing a Limestone timeout at the 16:25 mark of the opening half. The E&H lead reached double digits for the first time at 19-7, but LU responded with a 12-0 run over the following four minutes to pull level with 10:59 on the clock. The two teams traded the lead on eight separate occasions down the stretch of the first period, and a three-point basket from freshman forward Draven Pilson (Winston-Salem, N.C.) with seven seconds left gave the Wasps the one-point advantage heading into the halftime break.
- Both teams shot the ball well coming out of the half as they continued the back-and-forth affair. Junior guard Omari Curley (Prince George, Va.) knocked down a three from deep at the 13:51 mark to increase the E&H lead back out to seven at 59-52. The Saints rallied with another run, this time of the 7-0 variety, to knot things back up with just under 12 minutes remaining. It was nip and tuck through the middle stages of the second half as each team struggled to create any separation, with the lead constantly changing hands and the score standing deadlocked at 71-71 with 6:26 to play. A 12-3 spurt from the Saints saw them increase their margin out to nine to take control of the contest at the 3:08 mark. The Wasps continued to battle until the end, but could not come up with enough stops as the visiting Saints took the SAC win by the 90-80 final tally.
Emory & Henry Individual Leaders
- Senior guard/forward Gabe Brown (Clintwood, Va.) paced the Wasps with a team-high 17 points, eight rebounds, one assist, one steal and a blocked shot. Dixon added 15 points, three assists, two rebounds and a steal while sophomore guard Jackson Crawford (Daleville, Va.) finished with 15 points, four assists and a pair of rebounds.
- Senior guard Jalen Leftwich (Lynchburg, Va.) recorded 12 points, a team-high five assists and three rebounds while Curley registered six points, three rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals.
Limestone Individual Leaders
- Sirr Hughes went for a game-high 21 points, three assists, one steal and a rebound while Greg McKay had a double-double with 19 points, 16 rebounds and a pair of helpers.
- Railer Varges finished with 13 points, five rebounds and a steal while Trevon Payton poured in 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists in the win.
A Deeper Look
- Limestone shot 54.2% (32-for-59) from the field and went 8-for-20 (40%) from beyond the three-point arc. Emory & Henry was 30-for-67 (44.8%) overall and knocked down 37.5% (12-for-32) from deep.
- The visitors made more trips to the charity stripe as they were 18-for-22 (81.8%) compared to just 8-for-12 (66.7%) for the Wasps.
- LU outrebounded E&H by a 40-30 margin, but the two squads were dead even at 6-6 on second-chance points.
- Limestone outscored Emory & Henry 44-36 in the painted area, but the Wasps got out in transition as they tallied 20 points, compared to just six for the Saints.
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