HARRISONBURG, VA --- The EMU men made a few runs at Goucher Monday night, but ended up on the short end of an 87-81 decision at home.  The Runnin Royals slip to 6-5 overall with the loss in their final non-conference contest of the year.

After scoring the first bucket of the game, the men gave up 10 unanswered points to fall in a hole.  Eastern Mennonite cut it to a single possession deficit at two different points, but still trailed at halftime, 41-34.  EMU was outshot 54% to 33% over the first 20 minutes.

The Gophers pushed the lead into double figures in the second half before the Royals could mount a comeback.  With the help of back-to-back steals, the men scored six straight to get within two at 61-59 with 10:10 to play.

Two minutes later, David Falk (Madison, Va./Madison) tipped in a missed shot to give the Royals their first lead since the opening minute at 64-63.  A Ryan Bush (Columbiana, Oh./Salem) three pointer pushed the lead to four.  After Goucher re-took the lead with a 6-0 spurt, Bush canned another longball for a 70-69 lead with 6:17 left.

But the Gophers hit another mini run, scoring seven straight to leap back in front, 76-70.  Falk hit a layup, but five more points gave the visitors an 81-72 edge with just 1:43 to go.

James Williams (Capitol Heights, Md./Archbishop Carroll) made a pair of layups to make it 81-76, and Marcel Crump (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) added a shot after a GC free throw to trim the deficit to 82-78 with 29 seconds left.  The Gophers sealed it at the free throw line, however, making 5-for-6 over the next 15 seconds to hold on for the win.

Despite a second-half improvement, Eastern Mennonite shot just 41% in the game, going 30-73 from the floor.  The men were 5-24 from long range.  Goucher had their way with EMU's defense, shooting 55% and making 23-of-28 free throws.

Falk had his second straight game with 20 points and 16 rebounds.  He also swatted eight blocked shots, coming just one short of Harry Jordan's EMU record of nine blocks from 1975.  As a team, the Royals tied the program record with 10 blocks.

Crump was also effective, finishing with 18 points and six rebounds, including four off the offensive glass.  Williams had eight points and four assists, and Kwa McDonald (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) added eight.  Ryan Yates (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) had eight points and three steals.

Julian Livingston led all scorers with 25 points and six rebounds.  Alex Noble added 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Gophers, who improve to 6-6.

Eastern Mennonite (1-1 in the ODAC) is back into the Old Dominion Athletic Conference the rest of the season, starting with a road date at Randolph College on Wednesday.  Game time in Lynchburg is 7:00pm.