GRANTHAM, PA --- Free throws made the difference Saturday night, as the EMU basketball men nearly erased a 12-point second half deficit but came up short in a 70-65 loss at Messiah College. As the Runnin Royals enter a 10-day layoff, they have 15 missed free throws to think about as they settled for runner-up at the TownePlace Suites Tip-Off in Grantham, Pa.
The men scored first, getting a David Falk (Madison, Va./Madison County) lay-in on the game's first possession. Neither team led by more than three points until EMU had an 8-0 run to build a 19-13 cushion.
Messiah scored the next nine to take back the lead before the men got back-to-back threes to go up 30-25 with 3:49 left in the half. The Falcons ended the half on a 7-1 spurt and then scored the first four of the second to push back in front 36-31. Zac Hoy later scored five unanswered to give Messiah their biggest lead at 48-36 with 11:49 remaining.
EMU's deficit remained around 10 points until a pair of triples from Ryan Yates (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) cut it to 59-53 with 4:13 to go. The Falcons held the men scoreless over their next four possessions, however, and pushed the edge back up to 64-53 at the 3:01 mark.
The Runnin Royals kept coming. Yates nailed his fifth three ball of the night to get back to 65-60 with 47 ticks left. After a single Messiah free throw, Yates' layup made it 66-62 with 23 seconds left.
The Falcons left the door open by again hitting just one-of-two free throws, but Yates missed a long ball and MC again hit a charity toss to push the lead up to six at 68-62. Isaiah Harris-Winn(Frederick, Md./St. Maria Goretti) buried a triple with six seconds left to make it a one-possession game, but the Royals couldn't get a steal and two Falcon free throws locked up the decision.
Eastern Mennonite had a slight edge in shooting, both inside and outside of the three-point arc, but the men lost the game at the stripe. The Royals made just 8-of-23 free throws for 34.8%, their lowest effort since going 2-6 for 33.3% in a win over Goucher two years ago. Messiah was 26-for-39 for 66.7% from the line.
Yates was nearly unstoppable, shooting 11-17 from the floor, including 5-8 from long range, as he scored a season high 29 points. The rangy wing added six rebounds and three steals.
Marcel Crump (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) put in 12 points, while Falk had 12 rebounds and three assists. A day after getting 28 points from their bench, EMU's non-starters managed just 12 counters.
Yates and Falk were both named to the All-Tournament Team following play. Yates averaged 20.0 points over the two games, while Falk averaged 10.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks.
Josh Clippinger led Messiah with 15 points, going 8-10 from the free throw line. Hoy finished with 14 and a game high four assists. Geoff Boyle charted a double double with 13 rebounds and 10 points.
Eastern Mennonite falls to 3-1 with their first loss of the year. The Royals get an extended Thanksgiving break, not playing their next game until Dec. 3 when they host Washington and Lee in the ODAC opener for both teams.