HARRISONBURG, VA --- The Eastern Mennonite men's basketball team overwhelmed Shenandoah University Wednesday night in Harrisonburg, blowing open a close game in the first half en route to an 81-59 win. The men finished with a 50% shooting clip from the floor as they improved to 12-8 overall and 5-6 in the ODAC.
EMU scored the first eight points of the game, but watched as the Hornets got hot from outside and eventually tied the score at 24-24. But like a dragon awaked from its sleep, the Royals roared to an 11-2 close to the half, leading 35-26 at the break.
Shenandoah hit a string of three pointers early in the second to slice the lead down to 44-41. The men scored the next seven points, however, to push the edge back to 10 points and SU never recovered. The Royals took control and closed the game on a 37-18 surge.
Eastern Mennonite shot 57% in the second half and finished 30-of-60 from the floor. The Hornets actually shot better from three-point range than from inside. They were 10-for-29 from outside for 35% but were held to 34% shooting overall. EMU also had a solid 46-31 control of the boards.
Andrew Thorne (Front Royal, VA/Skyline) had his highest-scoring game of the second semester, finishing with a game high 20 points to go along with seven rebounds. R.J. Sims (Fort Washington, MD/Friendly) went 10-13 from the free throw line and tallied 14 points, eight boards and four assists. Dajon Daniel (Fredericksburg, VA/Mountain View) just missed a double double, coming in with 10 rebounds, nine points and four assists.
James Williams (Capitol Heights, MD/Archbishop Carroll) had eight points and four assists while Owen Longacre (Telford, PA/Christopher Dock) was good for nine points. Adam Burroughs (Roanoke, VA/Northside) led the defensive effort with three steals.
Jared Carithers (Bowie, MD/Bowie) hit a trio of threes and topped Shenandoah with 13 points.
With the win, EMU stands in a three-way tie for seventh place with Bridgewater and Washington and Lee. The Royals are on the road this weekend, playing at third-place Randolph College (8-3 in the ODAC). Game time in Lynchburg is 2:00pm.