VIRGINIA BEACH -- In recent years Eastern Mennonite University has produced one of the few men's basketball programs that has matched up athletically very well with Virginia Wesleyan College.

The 2013-14 Royals extended that lineage Wednesday by matching the Marlins move-for-move, and then some, en route to a stunning 85-82 Old Dominion Athletic Conference victory before a loud, enthusiastic crowd at the Jane P. Batten Student Center.

In a game that included 11 ties and 11 lead changes, the Royals (11-9, 6-5) hit timely shots repeatedly to either stay in contention or move into the lead.  EMU shot 51.6% from the field overall, while Virginia Wesleyan (15-5, 8-3) hit only 41%, including 37% in the second half.  The Marlins hit only 3-of-8 shots in the overtime period, while EMU helped seal the upset by connected on 4-of-5 shots from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line.

Virginia Wesleyan started off well, building an 11-point lead by the 9:29 mark of the first half, but Eastern Mennonite stayed collected and eventually cut the Marlins' lead to 39-35 by the halftime break. 

A pair of inside shots by senior Colby Heard (Virginia Beach/Tallwood), who turned in a career-best scoring effort, an three-point shots by rookie Khory Moorey (Arlington/Wakefield) and senior D.J. Woodmore (Virginia Beach/Landstown) helped push Virginia Wesleyan back out to a 53-44 lead with 12:33 showing in the second half.

But, Marcel Crump (Richmond/Highland Springs) answered for the Royals.  In the ensuing minutes he scored eight points to help EMU pull within two, before Ryan Yates (Alexandria/T.C. Williams) joined in, scoring eight points, helped by two triples, to give the Royals a 64-62 lead with 4:07 remaining. 

The score was tied three times in the final three minutes before Cameron Owens (Centreville/Centreville) scored on layup, off a pass from senior Aaron Clark (Virginia Beach/Tallwood), with 10 seconds on the clock, giving VWC a 73-71 lead.  While victory looked within range for the Marlins, EMU once again produced the shot it needed when Crump nailed a jumper, with his toe just extended over the three-point line, as time expired to tie the game. 

After three tied scores in the OT, Yates hit a jumper to give Eastern Mennonite an 84-82 lead with 1:12 on the clock.  VWC had the chance to tie the score, but missed the shot and the ensuing rebound when it was knocked out of bounds. After the Royals failed to score, Owens grabbed the rebound for the Marlins with 16 seconds on the clock.

VWC moved down court and got the ball into the hands of Woodmore, who started to cut down the middle when went hard to the court after a collision with an EMU defender. After the ball rolled out of bounds, the officials called a jump ball and the possession arrow gave the ball back to EMU for the final second.

The game was highlighted by two outstanding scoring efforts, led by Heard with a career-high 29 points. He hit 12-of-17 field goal attempts and 5-of-8 free throw attempts.  Crump tallied 28 points for EMU, nailing 10-of-17 field goals and 8-of-9 free throws.

Woodmore finishedwith 15 points for VWC, while Yates tallied 18 for EMU. RJ Sims (Fort Washington, Md./Friendly) scored 17 points for the Royals.

Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition on Saturday, Feb. 8, playing at Randolph College in conference play beginning at 2 p.m.

--AMDG--