HARRISONBURG, VA --- Faced with a chance to clinch the ODAC Tournament's No. 7 seed and a First Round home game with a win, the EMU men stumbled down the stretch and lost to Roanoke 83-81 in Harrisonburg Saturday night. With the loss, the Runnin Royals slip to the No. 9 seed and will travel to Washington and Lee Tuesday night to take on the Generals.
Eastern Mennonite topped W&L 91-84 in overtime in the teams' only meeting this season, but that game was in Yoder Arena. Now the Royals must win on the road to earn a trip to the ODAC Quarterfinals in Salem. The winner of Tuesday's contest will play top-seeded Virginia Wesleyan Friday afternoon at 1:00pm.
Admission for the game at Washington and Lee is five dollars for adults, and free for college students and younger. Live video and stats will be available for all games of the ODAC Tournament. Click here to see the official ODAC Tournament Website.
R.J. Sims (Fort Washington, MD/Friendly) led the charge out of the gates for EMU against Roanoke, as he nailed back-to-back threes to skip the men in front. After the Maroons tied the score, Sims hit another long ball. Senior Andrew Thorne (Front Royal, VA/Skyline) buried his own triple to give the Royals a 16-10 start to the contest, as they hit 4-of-5 three pointers in the opening 4:45.
The teams traded short runs and leads throughout the first, with the Maroons taking a 41-39 edge into halftime.
Roanoke built some momentum early in the second, and built up the biggest lead of the game at 67-54 with 10:00 to play. EMU called a timeout which changed the dynamics of the game. Sims came out and hit another three pointer, starting a 17-0 run over the next five minutes. Ryan Yates (Alexandria, VA/T.C. Williams) capped the streak with a layup with 5:10 to go, putting EMU in front 71-67.
The visitors scored the next five to re-take the lead, but Sims answered with his fifth triple. The two teams traded buckets for the next couple of minutes, with a Daniel Eacho (Richmond, VA/Monacan) jumper putting Roanoke up 80-78 with 1:48 left.
Adam Burroughs (Roanoke, VA/Northside) swished a three pointer from the top of the key to flip the Royals back in front, 81-80, with 26 seconds left, but Eacho answered with another bucket. The Royals pushed the ball up the floor and Sims drew a foul with eight seconds to go. With EMU down by one, Sims missed both of his free throws and the men had to foul.
Andrew Daniels (Fairfax, VA/Oakton) made only his second charity toss to put the lead at two, but Burroughs missed a three pointer in the closing seconds and RC's Eacho scooped up the rebound as time expired.
Most teams stats were relatively even in the game, with the deciding difference coming from the stripe. Roanoke was 22-of-32 from the free throw line, while EMU was 12-of-23, including 3-of-10 in the second half.
Thorne was good for a double double in his final home game, coming in with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Sims was 5-of-8 from outside and finished with 19 points and a game high six assists. David Falk (Madison, VA/Madison) also had a double double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, to go with his three blocked shots.
Yates had 12 points. Owen Longacre (Telford, PA/Christopher Dock) had four points and four rebounds in his final game in Yoder Arena.
Kwasi Amponsah (Woodbridge, VA/Garfield) led Roanoke with 17 points and seven rebounds. Eacho had 16 points and seven boards.
The Runnin Royals finish the regular season 14-11 overall and 7-9 in the ODAC. They end a game behind both Bridgewater and Washington and Lee at 8-8.