Nov 15, 2010
On a night when the Runnin Royals looked as rusty on offense as one might expect in the first game of a season, the men planted their flag on one thing - defense. Eastern Mennonite's men's basketball team, picked No. 3 in the D3hoops.com preseason poll, had 14 steals and forced 30 turnovers to hold off Shenandoah on the road, 85-71.
The teams traded leads in the first half and neither led by more than six. The Runnin Royals were up by four at the break, 35-31.
The men shot just 37% in the first 20 minutes of the season, including 2-16 in threes.
Things started to look better for the men when Eli Crawford (Staunton, Va./R.E. Lee) made a pair of free throws midway through the second to push the edge to 61-52. But the Hornets struck a 10-0 run over the next three minutes and EMU trailed 62-61 after Eugene Edwards made a layup with 7:22 remaining.
George Johnson (Richmond, Va./Miller School) calmly nailed a three pointer to put the men back in front and Todd Phillips (Waynesboro, Va./Waynesboro) capped a 10-0 run with a steal, two free throws and a trey to vault the Runnin Royals back ahead 71-62.
Phillips scored 11 of EMU's 13 points (and assisted on the other two points) during a crucial four minute span to keep the lead at 79-70 with 1:32 to go. Johnson added four charity tosses and Orie Pancione (Augusta, WV/Hampshire) hit a bucket to help the Runnin Royals to the win with their biggest lead of the game, 85-71.
The men locked up their first victory of the season by outscoring Shenandoah 24-9 over the final 7:22.
The Runnin Royals needed all their steals and forced turnovers and overcome being outshot 46% to 43%. EMU made only seven of 31 three-point attempts. They were also outrebounded 42-35.
Sophomore Andrew Thorne (Front Royal, Va./Skyline) notched his first career double double, dropping in 12 points with 10 rebounds. Crawford came off the bench in the game and had 16 points and seven rebounds on 7-for-11 shooting.
Johnson had team highs with 17 points, five assists and four steals. Phillips finished with 11 counters and three steals while D.J. Hinson (Newport News, Va./Menchville) chipped in 13.
Mitch Dudley led Shenandoah with 16 points and 18 rebounds.
After the opening the season with the road win, the men will host the EMU Tip-Off Classic this weekend. The Runnin Royals will play Penn State-Brandywine Friday night at 8:00pm and Southern Virginia Saturday at 8:00pm. Rival Bridgewater will also play at 6:00pm each night.
The teams traded leads in the first half and neither led by more than six. The Runnin Royals were up by four at the break, 35-31.
The men shot just 37% in the first 20 minutes of the season, including 2-16 in threes.
Things started to look better for the men when Eli Crawford (Staunton, Va./R.E. Lee) made a pair of free throws midway through the second to push the edge to 61-52. But the Hornets struck a 10-0 run over the next three minutes and EMU trailed 62-61 after Eugene Edwards made a layup with 7:22 remaining.
George Johnson (Richmond, Va./Miller School) calmly nailed a three pointer to put the men back in front and Todd Phillips (Waynesboro, Va./Waynesboro) capped a 10-0 run with a steal, two free throws and a trey to vault the Runnin Royals back ahead 71-62.
Phillips scored 11 of EMU's 13 points (and assisted on the other two points) during a crucial four minute span to keep the lead at 79-70 with 1:32 to go. Johnson added four charity tosses and Orie Pancione (Augusta, WV/Hampshire) hit a bucket to help the Runnin Royals to the win with their biggest lead of the game, 85-71.
The men locked up their first victory of the season by outscoring Shenandoah 24-9 over the final 7:22.
The Runnin Royals needed all their steals and forced turnovers and overcome being outshot 46% to 43%. EMU made only seven of 31 three-point attempts. They were also outrebounded 42-35.
Sophomore Andrew Thorne (Front Royal, Va./Skyline) notched his first career double double, dropping in 12 points with 10 rebounds. Crawford came off the bench in the game and had 16 points and seven rebounds on 7-for-11 shooting.
Johnson had team highs with 17 points, five assists and four steals. Phillips finished with 11 counters and three steals while D.J. Hinson (Newport News, Va./Menchville) chipped in 13.
Mitch Dudley led Shenandoah with 16 points and 18 rebounds.
After the opening the season with the road win, the men will host the EMU Tip-Off Classic this weekend. The Runnin Royals will play Penn State-Brandywine Friday night at 8:00pm and Southern Virginia Saturday at 8:00pm. Rival Bridgewater will also play at 6:00pm each night.