Feb. 11, 2014

Simon Scores 25 as No. 21 R-MC Falls at Eastern Mennonite

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Senior Andre Simon (Newport News, Va./Menchville) led all scorers with 25 points but No. 21 Randolph-Macon was cold from the floor in falling 73-68 at Eastern Mennonite Tuesday evening in ODAC action at Yoder Arena.

The Yellow Jackets (17-5, 11-2 ODAC) had their 13-game win streak snapped. R-MC shot 33.3% from the floor (22-66), including 2-14 (14.3%) on three-pointers. The Royals (12-10, 7-6) outrebounded the Yellow Jackets 46-32.

The Royals jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the first five minutes before a 7-0 run by the Yellow Jackets knotted the score at 10-10. EMU put together a 12-0 spurt to take a 22-10 advantage with 8:25 remaining in the half. The Royals led by 13 at 26-13 with 5:45 left in the period before a 10-2 run by R-MC closed the margin to five at 28-23 with 2:30 remaining. EMU pushed the lead back to 11 before taking a 40-31 lead to the locker room at the break. Simon had 18 points in the first half for the Yellow Jackets. R-MC was held to 25.8% shooting from the floor, while EMU held a 25-12 advantage on the boards. The Yellow Jackets had just three turnovers in the first half compared to 14 by the Royals.

The EMU lead grew to 11 at 44-33 early in the second half before a 9-2 spurt by R-MC made it a four-point game at 46-42 with 16:40 left. The advantage ballooned back to 10 at 57-47 before a 10-2 run by the Yellow Jackets made it 59-57 with seven minutes remaining. But that was as close as the visitors would come. EMU hit four of six free throws in the final 30 seconds to secure the victory.

Junior Marcus Badger (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh) added 10 points for the Yellow Jackets.

Randolph-Macon returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 15 with a 4 p.m. home ODAC contest against Emory & Henry in Crenshaw Gymnasium.