The first half wasn\u2019t so pretty, but the second half was something to write home about, as Eastern Mennonite used a 53-18 second stanza to roll to an 80-49 victory at rival Bridgewater Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
Neither team played well to start the game, as there were nearly more fouls than points over the first few minutes.\u00a0 Bridgewater finally broke off a 9-9 tie with an 8-0 run to go up 17-9.<\/p>\n
BC led by as many as nine before the Runnin Royals regrouped and trimmed it down.\u00a0 R.J. Sims (Fort Washington, MD\/Friendly) sliced to the hoop for a layup to end the half, cutting the Eagles\u2019 lead to four at 31-27.<\/p>\n
The momentum continued into the second, as EMU scored the first five to skip in front for the first time since the opening minutes, 32-31.\u00a0 The two teams traded leads before the Runnin Royals scored eight straight, with a Randell Smith (Woodbridge, VA\/Garfield) jumper pushing the lead to 42-37, and forcing Bridgewater to call a timeout.<\/p>\n
The breather didn\u2019t slow down EMU\u2019s fastbreak, as the men scored another eight in row, all in transition, forcing yet another timeout at 50-37.\u00a0 The Royals added another bucket to cap an 18-0 run, with Smith getting eight during the streak.\u00a0 The sophomore added his third triple to finish off a 21-2 spurt before getting a sub.<\/p>\n
The Royals weren\u2019t done with their 55-39 lead, as they continued to force turnovers and crash the offensive boards.\u00a0 The lead was as high as 34 as Eastern Mennonite thoroughly dominated the second and ran away with the 80-49 win.<\/p>\n
EMU shot 60% in the decisive final period while holding Bridgewater to 23% and winning the half 53-18.\u00a0 The Royals forced 10 turnovers and had a 28-15 command of the boards in the frame.<\/p>\n
For the game, the men out-shot the Eagles 50% to 31% and forced 20 turnovers.\u00a0 EMU did struggle from the free throw line, hitting just 13-of-27 attempts.<\/p>\n
Smith finished with a career best 11 points, all during the decisive second half surge.\u00a0 Sims led EMU with 12 points and four offensive boards, but was one of five men in double figures.<\/p>\n
Owen Longacre (Telford, PA\/Christopher Dock) had 11 points and seven rebounds, while Adam Burroughs (Roanoke, VA\/Northside) put in 11 with four steals and three assists.\u00a0 Junior Andrew Thorne (Front Royal, VA\/Skyline) was good for 10 points, nine rebounds and three steals.<\/p>\n
Bridgewater freshman Aaron Adams (Ellicott City, MD\/Centennial) led all players with 16 points.\u00a0 Point guard Ronnie Thomas (Roanoke, VA\/Patrick Henry) scored 14 but also had six turnovers.\u00a0 Ed Reddick (Virginia Beach, VA\/Kellam) had a game high 10 rebounds.<\/p>\n
The Royals snap a five-game ODAC losing streak with the win, improving to 2-5 in the conference and 7-9 overall.\u00a0 BC dropped their tenth in a row, slipping to 4-12 and 1-6.\u00a0 Eastern Mennonite has now won five games in a row in the series between the two.<\/p>\n
EMU will try to springboard off the win when they host Randolph on Saturday.\u00a0 Game time in Yoder Arena is 7:00pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"