VIRGINIA BEACH, VA --- Marcel Crump (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) sent the game to extra time and Ryan Yates (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) provided the winning points, as the Eastern Mennonite basketball men earned an impressive 85-82 win in overtime at No. 16 Virginia Wesleyan. The Runnin Royals improve to 11-9 on the season and maintain a spot at fifth place in ODAC at 6-5.
EMU has now won four straight road games, and improves to 9-3 away from Yoder Arena. The Royals have another tough road contest on Saturday, playing at Hampden-Sydney, which is 5-6 in the ODAC. The men are tied with Randolph College for fifth, the H-SC's Tigers a game behind them in seventh.
Virginia Wesleyan (15-5, 8-3 ODAC) led by as many as 11 in the first half, and was still up 60-55 with seven minutes left in regulation. After an EMU timeout, Yates drilled a big three to get the men rolling. The Marlins responded with a bucket, but eight straight points gave the Royals their biggest lead of the night at 66-62 with 3:34 remaining.
The home team regrouped. When EMU big man David Falk (Madison, Va./Madison) fouled out with 2:27 to go and VWC hit two free throws to go ahead 67-66, the Marlins seemed to have momentum back on their side.
RJ Sims (Fort Washington, Md./Friendly) proved otherwise, hitting a three pointer from the corner to vault the Royals back in front. VWC tied it back up with an offensive putback and Crump missed a jumper for EMU. But Woody Furbush (Bridgeton, N.J./Salem) was fouled going for an offensive board, and the junior calmly hit both free throws to make it 71-69 with 1:10 left. DJ Woodmore answered with two of his own free throws, re-tying the score at 71-71 with 46 ticks to go.
Yates missed two free throws, giving the Marlins possession with 30 seconds left, meaning they could hold for the last shot. EMU double-teamed the ball on defense, looking to force the issue, but the Marlins found the open man for a bucket and the two-point lead with 10 seconds to go.
The Royals set up their final play, and Crump launched what looked to be a game-winning three pointer as time expired. The shot went in, but the officials said his foot was on the line, keeping it a two-point shot and sending the game to OT at 73-73.
The extra period saw three more ties and four lead changes. The final lead change came when Crump converted a big three-point play with 2:22 showing on the clock, putting EMU in front 82-80.
Sedric Nady hit 2-of-3 free throws with 1:33 to go, tying things up again at 82-82, but Yates hit the go-ahead bucket from the left elbow with 1:12 left. The teams traded empty possessions, giving the Marlins one last chance with 15 seconds remaining.
Woodmore took the ball and looked to drive in, but after a collision, the ball rolled loose. After a quick pileup of players going for the ball, EMU held the possession arrow to essentially lock up the decision with :00.5 left. Yates was fouled as the ball was inbounded and added one more free throw to produce the final score, 85-82.
The Royals shot 51.6% from the floor while holding VWC to 41.9%. The Marlins stayed in the game with 20 offensive rebounds.
Crump was a wrecking ball for EMU, pouring in 28 points with six rebounds. Yates finished with 18 points, including three triples, to go with five assists and three steals.
Sims added 17 points and five assists. James Williams (Capitol Heights, Md./Archbishop Carroll) also hit double figures with 11 counters while Falk still grabbed a game high 13 rebounds.
Colby Heard was a force off the bench for Virginia Wesleyan, scoring a game-high 29 points with eight boards. But the Royals' defense held the rest of the team to 19-57 from the floor for 33% shooting. Woodmore, a three-time All-ODAC player, was limited to 15 points on 5-for-17 shooting.
The Marlins had won six of their previous seven games, and are the No. 16 team in this week's D3hoops.com national poll.
The Royals are now 3-0 in overtime contests this season. After playing at H-SC this weekend, Eastern Mennonite is at home for three of their final four games.