BRIDGEWATER, VA --- The Runnin Royals suffered a stinging loss Wednesday evening, falling at rival Bridgewater, 69-63. EMU played a few points down much of the evening and could never get over the hump against their rivals, snapping a six-game winning streak against the Eagles.
More importantly, the men's second loss in a row drops them into a tie with Lynchburg College for fourth place in the ODAC standings. LC beat third-place Guilford Wednesday night, 81-64, to tie the Royals with an 8-7 record. Both are also 15-9 overall.
Eastern Mennonite hosts Roanoke on Saturday to wrap up the regular season. The Hornets ironically play at Bridgewater. EMU and Lynchburg split their two head-to-head meetings, meaning if they remain in a two-way draw, the tie-breaker will come down to the ODAC's complicated 5-point system, which only becomes clear when the league's final standings are put in place. To avoid sweating out that process, the Royals are in the odd position of rooting for their archrivals on Saturday, while needing a win over the Maroons.
In Wednesday night's game, Bridgewater scored first and worked to an 11-6 lead. The Royals tied the score at 16-16, and eventually took a 19-18 lead on a Marcel Crump (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) free throw. That turned out to be EMU's only lead of the night, although the deficit was never more than eight points.
The Eagles responded with a quick 10-1 run to get that eight-point lead at 28-20, and held a 34-28 cushion at halftime.
Eastern Mennonite scored the first five points of the second half to drive within one, forcing a BC timeout. The Eagles steadied and kept the lead, including their biggest of the final 20 minutes at 50-45 with 9:23 to play.
Generally, most of the second half saw a one possession game, with the major story being that Bridgewater answered every Royal run. Jerome Jones (Charles Town, W.V./Washington) tied the score at 59-59, hitting a three pointer with 3:50 left. The Eagles answered with back-to-back buckets to put the lead back at four. Jones hit another triple, but BC again responded with a basket, keeping the edge at 65-62.
With 1:01 remaining on the clock, David Falk (Madison, Va./Madison County) was fouled on a fastbreak attempt, and the big man hit one of two free throws getting the men within 65-63. The Eagles turned the ball over on their next possession, giving EMU life. But Ryan Yates (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) missed a three pointer from the right corner with 19 seconds left, forcing the Royals to foul.
BC's Aaron Adams missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw, but the long rebound was tracked down by the Eagles. After another quick foul, Bridgewater made good on their freebies, sinking two to push the edge to 67-63 with 12 seconds left.
James Williams (Capitol Heights, Md./Archbishop Carroll) had a layup blocked and Falk missed a jumper off an inbounds play to leave the men short. Two more late free throws provided the final margin of 69-63.
Neither team shot particularly well from the floor, with BC holding a 42% to 37% edge. The Royals kept close by hitting 7-of-19 three pointers, while the Eagles were just 1-8. The biggest difference came in rebounding, where Bridgewater held a surprising 46-33 edge, including 18-12 in offensive rebounds.
Crump finished with 17 points and was one of three Royals with three assists. Falk charted 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots. Williams came in with eight points, four steals and three assists, while Yates had nine points and three assists. Jones finished with eight counters.
Ed Reddick and Kyle Welty each scored 17 to lead Bridgewater. They also combined for 17 rebounds, including seven offensive.