Yellow Jackets to Face Randolph in Second Straight Title Game Appearance

SALEM, Va. --- Randolph-Macon led by as many as 17 points in the second half in defeating Eastern Mennonite, 90-79, in the second semifinal of the ODAC Men's Basketball Tournament.  The victory propels the Yellow Jackets into their second straight conference championship game, where they'll meet Randolph College.

Randolph-Macon will be making its 11th overall appearance in the conference championship and sixth in the last nine years.  The Jackets, in search of their fourth ODAC crown, fell to Guilford in last year's league-deciding game.

The Royals scored first, getting a fastbreak layup from big man Orie Pancionce. ODAC Player of the Year Todd Phillips then drilled a pair of three pointers as EMU pushed the lead to 14-9.

The Yellow Jackets recovered from there, however, and slowly pushed out to a 25-18 lead, forcing a pair of EMU timeouts. 

The Royals struggled into get in an offensive rhythm as the deficit continued to slowly grow. By halftime, R-MC led 40-29.

EMU shot just 32% from the floor in the first 20 minutes and even missed an open dunk. The Royals also struggled from the line, connecting on 9-of-16 free throws for 56%. 

The Yellow Jackets, meanwhile, shot 47% and 10-14 from the stripe.

After the men scored first on a pair of free throws to start the second, R-MC scored seven straight to open up a 47-31 lead.

Stuck in a halfcourt game, the Runnin Royals attacked the rim, drawing five fouls in the opening five minutes.

The Yellow Jacket's lead stayed in double figures as they handled the up-tempo play well and EMU all but abandoned their three-point shooting.

The Royals finally got some momentum and cut the lead to 10 when D.J. Hinson drained a triple with 5:35 left. It was the first three of the half for EMU and trimmed the lead to 71-61.  Hinson hit another three after R-MC missed two free throws.

The Yellow Jackets scored five straight to push the edge back to 76-64, but Hinson nailed yet another three at the 3:42 mark, putting the lead back under ten.

When Eli Crawford hit a pair of free throws to make the score 76-69 with 3:02 to go, six players had four fouls, two for EMU and four for R-MC.

After both teams missed good chances to score, Crawford picked up his fourth, and R-MC's Danny Jones made a pair of tosses.

Pancione converted a three-point play after an offensive rebound to cut the lead to 78-72 with 1:53 showing, but that was as close as the men would get.

Eric Pugh made two free throws with 1:22 left and the Royals turned the ball over and R-MC got two more tosses to put the lead back at ten.

Phillips made one of two free throws and the free throw fest started for the Yellow Jackets. R-MC made 6-of-8 tosses in the final minute to ice the win, 90-79. They were 12-14 from the stripe in the final 2:03.

Despite making 41 trips to the free throw line, the Royals couldn't recover from shooting 37% from the floor. EMU was just 23-of-63 in the game, including 6-of-20 from long range.

Randolph-Macon was 27-of-50 from the floor for 54% and connected on 32-of-44 free throws.

Each team scored 50 points in the frenetic second half.

Hinson led the Royals in scoring for the third straight game, netting 22 points and a game-high three triples. Phillips finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists.  Pancione had 13 points and eight rebounds, including five offensive boards. Freshman Marlon Organ had 11 points off the bench.

Jones was again the Royal killer, as he led all scorers with 27 points. Lamar Giggetts, who also came off the bench for R-MC, added 17 and nine rebounds. Eric Pugh hit a couple of big threes and finished with 15 points.

The loss knocks Eastern Mennonite out of the ODAC Tournament in the semifinals for the second straight year, both times by the Yellow Jackets. At 22-5, the men will now hope for an at-large bid to the D-III NCAA National Championships. The selection show for the tourney will be webcast by the NCAA this Monday at 1:00 p.m.

The Eastern Mennonite University sports information department contributed to this release.