HARRISONBURG, Va. – Eastern Mennonite used a late 10-0 spurt to erase a 60-58 deficit and the Royals went on to defeat Bridgewater College 77-67 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference men's basketball action Wednesday evening.
The Eagles controlled play early, jumping out to a 25-10 lead in the first 11 minutes of play.
Bridgewater's Logan Seacrist opened the scoring with a 3-pointer and, after a layup by EMU's Ryan Yates, Ed Reddick worked the paint for a bucket and a 5-2 Eagles lead. Reddick and EMU's James Williams traded buckets before a 3-pointer by Kyle Welty gave the Eagles a 10-4 edge.
Jerome Jones scored from beyond the arc for the Royals, but Seacrist answered with his second 3-ball to put the Eagles on top 13-7.
Royals' big man David Falk and Welty exchanged buckets before Reddick and Aaron Adams combined to go 2-of-4 from the foul line, putting the Eagles' lead at 17-9.
A jumper by Welty pushed the margin to double digits before Yates hit 1-of-2 free throws, making the score 19-10. The Eagles then rattled off six straight points to take their biggest lead of the game. Reddick scored on a tip-in and a jump hook and Seacrist added a short jumper, making the score 25-10 with 9:08 left in the first half.
The Eagles still led by double figures when Ethan Adams scored from in close for a 33-22 lead with 2:53 left in the half, but the Royals outscored Bridgewater 7-2 during the remainder of the half to trail by just six, 35-29, at the break.
The Royals opened the second half with a quick 8-2 spurt and tied the score at 37-37 when Falk made 1-of-2 at the foul line.
After Reddick made a free throw, EMU ran off seven straight points to lead by six. Marcel Crump and Jones scored from inside and then Jones drained a long 3-pointer, putting the Royals ahead 44-38 with 15:58 left in the game.
EMU held the lead until a 6-0 Bridgewater run tied the score at the 8:10 mark. Reddick scored from inside and Aaron Adams added a short jumper to pull the Eagles to within two. Seacrist then took a nifty pass in traffic from Reddick and converted an open layup to knot the score at 51-51.
A driving layup by Benaiah Wide gave the Eagles the upper hand, but a layup and a dunk by Falk swung the advantage back to the Royals. Falk, however, was whistled for a technical for hanging on the rim on the dunk and EMU head coach Kirby Dean also picked up a technical foul, giving the Eagles four free throws. Zach Hunter connected on two of the four shots to tie the score and Reddick followed by converting a three-point play, giving BC a 58-55 lead with 5:49 on the clock.
The Royals tied the score by making 3-of-4 from the foul line before two Reddick free throws put the Eagles on top 60-58. EMU then embarked on its pivotal run, outscoring the Eagles 10-0 to take a 68-58 lead with just 2:17 left to play.
Bridgewater cut the margin to five, 64-59 on two free throws by Aaron Adams with 50 seconds left, but the Eagles would get no closer the rest of the way.
Reddick posted another huge game on his ledger with a double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds. Seacrist scored 12 points and Welty added 11. The Royals countered by putting all five starters in double figures. Falk's double-double was a huge factor as he scored 14 points and grabbed 18 rebounds. Crump led the scoring column with 17 points while Yates and Williams scored 15 each. Jones finished the night with 14 points.