Staff Report
EMU sports: www.emu.edu
Brandishing their new No. 7 ranking in the national poll, the Runnin Royals welcomed in Old Dominion Athletic Conference foe Emory & Henry College Wednesday night. Eastern Mennonite squashed any upset thoughts early as the men scored the first five and never trailed in a 101-69 victory.
The contest started slowly, as the Royals looked sluggish on the offensive end. Defensively the men put the clamps on Emory & Henry, holding the Wasps scoreless for the first three minutes.
EMU then started clicking and blew open a 25-8 lead by the 9:39 mark and ran into halftime with a big 50-22 lead. The Royals forced Emory & Henry into 20 first half turnovers.
The visitors opened the second on a 13-5 spurt to get within 20, but that would be as close the Wasps would get as Eastern Mennonite took the 32-point victory.
Four players scored in double figures for EMU, led by D.J. Hinson’s (Newport News, Va./Menchville) 20 points. Austin Twine (Dublin, Va./Pulaski County) had 12 points and a game high four steals.
Orie Pancione (Augusta, WV/Hampshire) helped the Runnin Royals to a 53-38 edge on the boards as he grabbed a game high 12 rebounds, including four offensive. As a team, EMU had 22 offensive boards.
The Royals connected on 35 of 76 shots for 46% and were 27-36 from the free throw line. Emory & Henry was 26-66 for 39% but were a solid 10-24 from long range. The game featured 60 turnovers, including 36 by the Wasps.
Terrance Grigg (Charlotte, NC/Hopewell) led Emory & Henry with 17 points and seven rebounds.
Eastern Mennonite improves to 14-1 with the win and maintains first in the ODAC with an 8-0 mark. The Wasps slip to 2-15 and 0-8. The next game for the Runnin Royals is a road matchup with archrival Bridgewater on Saturday, Jan. 23, at 7:00pm.
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