For immediate release – 11/23/2013 - #143
Lynchburg Tops 100 for First Time in '13-14, Defeats EMU 107-87
HARRISONBURG, VA—The Lynchburg College men's basketball team got the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) season off to a good start against Eastern Mennonite University as a 20-point, second-half run gave the Hornets a 107-87 victory Saturday.
The 107 points is the 11th-most scored by the men's basketball program in a regulation game. Lynchburg last scored 100 points in a game 364 days ago against Johnson & Wales (RI) on November 24, 2012.
The Hornets rode a balanced scoring effort to start the first half with a 25-15 lead. Eight different Lynchburg players scored in the early going to match the impressive efforts of Ryan Yates and Marcel Crump for EMU.
That depth shown by LC would be important in the first half as the Runnin' Royals forced their way into the bonus nine minutes into the first half.
Eastern Mennonite could not take advantage of Lynchburg's foul trouble, connecting on just 6-of-14 first half free throw attempts, and 26-of-48 overall.
Lynchburg ran out to a big, 16-point lead in the first half when Daniel Rowe knocked down a 3-pointer with 4:41 remaining to make the score 39-23, but Eastern Mennonite nipped away at that advantage the remainder of the half. The Royals ended on a 13-7 run.
Yates scored eight of his 16 first-half points during that Royal run to spring the home team as he managed to find an opening in the Lynchburg zone.
The Royals had regained momentum with under a minute left in the half and the game within nine points, 44-35, when David Falk knocked down a free throw to cut the lead to eight.
Lyndon White took the inbounds pass with eight seconds left and drove the length of the floor for the easy lay-up as time expired to make the score 46-36.
The Runnin' Royals came out in the second half on a 17-11 run to cut the lead to four. Penetrating on the man-to-man defense, EMU was able to draw fouls, pinning Alex Graves with his fourth personal foul four minutes into the second half.
Lynchburg pulled away for the victory thanks to a 30-10 run that spanned eight minutes in the second half to extend the lead to 89-63. Manny Hernandez contributed 13 during the spurt; six by way of the free throw, while Gary Boone II added six and Zack Burnett had five.
The Hornets were led by Hernandez's 28 points and team-high nine rebounds. Boone II had 13 points while Graves and Burnett each contributed 12. Austen Arnold had 11 tallies while Rowe added 10 to round out the six Hornets in double-figures.
Yates ended the game with 18 points for the Royals (2-2/0-1), only two of which came in the second half. Falk added 16 points to go with a game-high 13 boards as Crump finished with 12 scores.
Lynchburg (2-1/1-0) returns home Saturday for a 3 p.m. ODAC contest with Shenandoah University (3-1/0-0).