Men’s baskeball: Randolph-Macon 84, Eastern Mennonite 68

Coach Kirby Dean has known all season of the weaknesses of his team: rebounding and getting stops.  Both areas reared their head Tuesday night, as the EMU basketball men fell 84-68 at Randolph-Macon in the ODAC Tournament First Round.

In the first half, the Royals gave up 11 offensive rebounds to host R-MC.  In the second half, the men did a better job on the boards, but couldn’t slow down the Yellow Jackets’ offense.

Eastern Mennonite, likely the youngest team in the nation with no juniors or seniors on the roster, finishes an up-and-down season with a record of 11-14.

The Royals had an early 7-0 run, including a pair of inside buckets from freshman big man Sammy Thomas (Owings, Md./Northern), to grab a 7-4 lead.  R-MC answered with the next nine to go back in front, 13-7.

The men chipped within one point at 13-12 and again at 21-20, but back-to-back turnovers let the Yellow Jackets splash a 7-0 streak to a 40-29 cushion.  R-MC led 45-37 at halftime.

After the home team went up by 16 early in the second, Xavier McCants (Olney, Md./Sherwood) and RaShawn Latimer(Warrenton, Va./Kettle Run) each canned triples during a 9-1 run, getting the Runnin Royals back within single digits at 64-56 with 9:23 to go.  But Randolph-Macon scored on their next five possessions to ignite a 10-1 run, bumping the lead back to 74-57.  EMU never threatened again.

After shooting 60% in the first half, including 6-11 from outside, the Royals shot just 36% in the second and finished with a 46% mark.  Randolph-Macon was just as efficient in both halves, shooting 51% for the game.  The Yellow Jackets also had a 47-25 control of the boards, including 15 offensive rebounds.

Latimer scored 12 points to lead a balanced attack.  Isaiah Harris-Winn (Frederick, Md./St. Maria Goretti) had a good effort, finishing with 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks.  McCants charted 11 tallies along with two steals.  Thomas ended with nine points and five boards while Maleke Jones (Charles Town, W.V./Washington) had a game high seven assists.

Daniel Noe led five Yellow Jackets in double figures with 16 points and 12 rebounds.  Jon Nowell and Mike Silverthorn each scored 15.