Bridgewater rallies late to knock off EMU
Rivalry games often have interesting twists, and this one sure did. The Runnin Royals hosted rival Bridgewater Wednesday night, and let a double digit lead slip away over the final minutes as the Eagles stole a crucial 79-77 decision.
Eastern Mennonite led by as many as seven points in the first half, but BC regrouped and took a 41-39 edge into halftime. Read more
EMU women set final home game as Play 4Kay
The Eastern Mennonite University women’s baskeball team has announced a Play 4Kay (formerly WBCA PinkZone) game for its home basketball game this Saturday against Virginia Wesleyan at 4 p.m.
The designation is done in cooperation with the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association as an outreach and fundraising effort to raise breast cancer awareness in college communities and beyond. Read more
Disney heiress to speak at EMU commencement
Her ties to the first family of entertainment are strong but this Disney focuses on brave women in peacebuilding rather than cartoons and children’s films.
Abigail Disney, a philanthropist, scholar and award-winning filmmaker, will give the annual commencement address at Eastern Mennonite University 0n Sunday, April 29. “EMU is a remarkable institution, an island of sanity in a country that often has difficulty crediting the discourse of peace,” said Disney.
“It recognized in Leymah Gbowee, an extraordinary gift for activism and principled nonviolent leadership long before either I or the Nobel Committee did, and for every Leymah that has risen to prominence from EMU I happen to know there are dozens of others quietly laboring in obscurity to build peace.” Read more
EMU women win nailbiter
The Eastern Mennonite women entered Saturday’s game with Roanoke with the 11th-best offense in the nation. The Maroons held EMU 30 points below their season average, but the Royals still found a way to get the win, getting a late bucket to steal a 45-44 decision.
Sophomore Stephanie Rheinheimer (Manheim, PA/Lancaster Mennonite) hit the clutch jumper with 12 seconds left, giving the women their first lead since early in the second at just the right time.
The game was tight the entire way, with Roanoke holding the biggest lead of either team with a 20-13 advantage in the first. EMU answered with a 10-0 run to jump back in front and led 23-22 at halftime. Read more
Cold-shooting EMU falls at Randolph
The RAD Center at Randolph College is a tough place to play, and the Runnin Royals gave evidence to that Saturday afternoon, shooting just 28% in a 64-47 loss to the WildCats.
The team nearly shot better from three point range than from inside the arc in the game, and canned their first two attempts from outside in grabbing a 6-4 lead. Randolph then scored the next nine points to skip ahead 13-6.
After another EMU three, the men went silent from the floor and RC methodically built the lead to 22-9. Read more
EMU rolls past Mary Baldwin
The Eastern Mennonite women took over early Thursday night and ran away with a 92-46 non-conference win from visiting Mary Baldwin College. The victory extended the Royals’ home winning streak to 21 straight games.
After playing even for the first six minutes, EMU unleashed a 38-4 run over the span of 13 minutes to blow open a 32-point advantage. The women scored the first five in the second half and were never seriously threatened.
Every player in uniform got onto the court for Eastern Mennonite and all but one scored. Five scored in double figures, including three women who each had 14 points. Read more
Burroughs three-ball wins it in overtime for Royals
The young Runnin Royals have needed a big win to get the ball rolling. Wednesday night they may have gotten it.
Sophomore Adam Burroughs (Roanoke, VA/Northside) shook off a cold-shooting night and nailed the game-winning three pointer with 2.1 seconds left in overtime, as Eastern Mennonite earned a hard-fought 78-75 win from Lynchburg. The guard scored EMU’s final seven points as they never trailed in OT.
The Royals move to 9-11 overall and 4-7 in the league, after taking the win from the ODAC’s fifth-place team. The men are now in a three-way tie for sixth with Washington and Lee University and Randolph College. Read more
Famed choir now offered for boys
The acclaimed Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir, celebrating its 20th year, is offering a unique opportunity for boys ages 8-13 to share their vocal talents.
Led by Julia J. White, Artistic Director and Founder of the SVCC, the Shenandoah Valley Boychoir is a six-week experience where boys will learn basic music reading and vocal skills and engage in a variety of boy-friendly repertoire.
“We have been wanted to do this for many years and would be delighted if this opened up options for SVCC in the future,” said White. “There has been so much positive feedback already that we are hopeful to be able to have two age groupings of the Boychoir.” Read more
EMU will honor Kratz
Eastern Mennonite University will honor its best known baseball alum, Erik Kratz, at Wednesday night’s men’s basketball game.
As part of Erik Kratz Night, Erik will be signing autographs before the game and during halftime. A limited supply of pictures of Erik in his EMU uniform are available for kids under high school age.
Kratz, who played for the Royals on the 1999-2002 teams, graduated with 10 season and 10 career records at EMU. He also holds the NCAA record for career doubles with 77. After being drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays, Kratz has worked his way to the majors for both the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies organizations.
EMU women get big ODAC win
The sign of a good team is when it can overcome rough spells and still earn a win. Despite trailing by 11 with five minutes to play, Eastern Mennonite’s women stepped up their defense, which in turn fueled their offense to a 23-3 game-ending run and a 71-62 win over Randolph-Macon.
After trading leads in the first half, neither team scored over the final 3:28 of the frame as the Yellow Jackets took a 26-25 lead into the break.
The Royals’ offensive woes continued early in the second, and R-MC pushed open leads of 33-27 and then 53-44. Read more
EMU blows big lead in 81-79 loss to Roanoke
The Eastern Mennonite men’s basketball team suffered a gut-wrenching loss Saturday night in Yoder Arena, blowing a 12-point second half lead and a late game-tying shot to take an 81-79 loss to Roanoke.
The Runnin Royals had double digits leads in each half, including a 48-39 advantage at the break. But a second half run by the Maroons made the game interesting in a hurry.
With a 58-47 lead and 14:26 to go, EMU suddenly went into a funk. Over the next 6:13, Roanoke picked up steam and exploded to the final points of a 20-3 run, taking their biggest lead of the game at 67-61. Read more
Royals overcome slow start and run by Randolph, 79-48
From the opening minutes of the game, you wouldn’t have known that visiting Randolph was still looking for its first conference win. But after falling behind 10-2 to the WildCats, the Eastern Mennonite women quickly regrouped and controlled the rest of the game in a 79-48 victory in Harrisonburg Friday night.
Randolph College confidently came out in a zone, knocking the Royals out of their offense. RC scored on five of their first seven possessions and jumped ahead 10-2 just 3:49 into the game. Read more
