Royals Slam Eagles
Posted: February 14, 2013
HARRISONBURG — With Bridgewater College pressing in what was a futile comeback attempt, Eastern Mennonite senior Andrew Thorne finished off the Eagles emphatically.
EMU guard Adam Burroughs beat the press, took one step across half-court, and threw a lob pass to Thorne, who flushed the basketball home with 49 seconds remaining to give the Royals a 72-62 advantage — the eventual final score — over their cross-town rivals.
On a night when Thorne reached 1,000 career points, EMU (14-10 overall, 7-8 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference) swept Bridgewater in a high-energy rematch at Yoder Arena.
“It was typical Bridgewater-EMU basketball,” EMU coach Kirby Dean said. “There were runs both ways; we were just fortunate enough to have the last run.”
The Royals built a 10-point lead by halftime, but the Eagles (13-11, 7-8) battled back to close the gap to a one-possession game midway through the second half. After an EMU timeout, Thorne and guard R.J. Sims combined for eight points during a critical 10-0 EMU run that stretched the lead to 13 points. The Eagles never recovered.
Bridgewater coach Don Burgess picked up his first technical “in a while,” he said, with his team down 60-50 in the second half. After he was not granted a timeout during a loose-ball scrum, Burgess argued with an official.
“I just wanted the timeout,” Burgess said. “That is all I wanted. But it didn’t have any effect on the outcome of the game.”
Thorne, who needed eight points coming into the night to reach his milestone, hit it on a free throw with 17:20 remaining, and finished with 16. He said he was unaware of the feat until it was announced by the Royals’ public address announcer.
“[The coaches] told me I was at 966 a while back, Thorne said. “I didn’t know exactly how many I needed to reach 1,000 for my career.”
The end-of-game jam was just the cherry on top of his big night.
“When you play Bridgewater, you always want that dunk,” Thorne said. “I was lucky to get it. The dunk got the crowd hyped.”
EMU and BC are now tied with Washington & Lee for seventh place in the 12-team ODAC.
Bridgewater leading scorer Ronnie Thomas, playing in his first game after missing the previous four, came off the bench and scored four points in 21 minutes. The junior guard’s right wrist was heavily taped and appeared to bother him throughout the game.
“First half, I didn’t feel myself doing anything that I usually do,” Thomas said. “Second half, I started feeling better. This was the game I needed, so it is better for me coming back now than later.”
With Thomas ineffective, sophomore forward Ed Reddick increased his production, scoring a game-high 21 points and pulling down 10 rebounds in the loss.
The Eagles had opportunities to score at the rim but couldn’t convert in a cold first half in which they shot 9-for-34 (26.5 percent). The Eagles warmed up in the second half, shooting 14-for-30 (46.7 percent) and finished the game at 35.9 percent. EMU shot 52.7 percent from the floor throughout the game.
“If we make layups on transition baskets, it is a whole different story,” Burgess said. “But we missed too many layups tonight.”
NOTE: EMU coach Kirby Dean said that former Broadway High School standout Mike Richardson has quit the team to “focus on academics.” Richardson was averaging 2.5 points in nine minutes per game during his freshman season. He played in 13 of the Royals’ first 23 games.
BRIDGEWATER
Stapleton 1-6 0-2 2, M. Hunter 1-2 0-0 3, Adams 6-14 1-3 13, Reddick 6-15 9-10 21, McClain 1-4 0-0 2, Thomas 1-3 2-6 4, Z. Hunter 3-7 0-1 6, Welty 0-1 0-0 0, Thompson 2-3 0-0 4, Lynch 1-4 3-3 5, Waugh 1-4 0-0 2, Larson 0-1 0-0 0, Powell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-64 15-25 62.
EASTERN MENNONITE
Longacre 5-6 1-1 13, Williams 4-8 0-0 8, Daniel 4-8 1-4 9, Sims 5-10 1-1 12, Thorne 5-9 4-6 16, Valentine 2-4 0-0 4, Furbush 0-1 0-0 0, Henderson 0-1 0-0 0, Burroughs 1-3 0-0 3, Falk 2-3 0-4 4, Yates 1-2 1-5 3. Totals 29-55 8-21 72.
Halftime—EMU 36-26. 3-Point Goals—BC 1-8 (Hunter 1-1, Adams 0-1, Stapleton 0-1, Thomas 0-1, Welty 0-1, Waugh 0-1, Lynch 0-2), EMU 6-14 (Longacre 2-2, Thorne 2-5, Burroughs 1-1, Sims 1-3, Daniel 0-3). Fouled Out—Longacre. Rebounds—BC 25 (Reddick 6), EMU 33 (Longacre 8). Assists—BC 9 (Hunter 3), EMU 10 (Daniel 3). Total Fouls—BC 16, EMU 23. A—1032.
EMU guard Adam Burroughs beat the press, took one step across half-court, and threw a lob pass to Thorne, who flushed the basketball home with 49 seconds remaining to give the Royals a 72-62 advantage — the eventual final score — over their cross-town rivals.
On a night when Thorne reached 1,000 career points, EMU (14-10 overall, 7-8 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference) swept Bridgewater in a high-energy rematch at Yoder Arena.
“It was typical Bridgewater-EMU basketball,” EMU coach Kirby Dean said. “There were runs both ways; we were just fortunate enough to have the last run.”
The Royals built a 10-point lead by halftime, but the Eagles (13-11, 7-8) battled back to close the gap to a one-possession game midway through the second half. After an EMU timeout, Thorne and guard R.J. Sims combined for eight points during a critical 10-0 EMU run that stretched the lead to 13 points. The Eagles never recovered.
Bridgewater coach Don Burgess picked up his first technical “in a while,” he said, with his team down 60-50 in the second half. After he was not granted a timeout during a loose-ball scrum, Burgess argued with an official.
“I just wanted the timeout,” Burgess said. “That is all I wanted. But it didn’t have any effect on the outcome of the game.”
Thorne, who needed eight points coming into the night to reach his milestone, hit it on a free throw with 17:20 remaining, and finished with 16. He said he was unaware of the feat until it was announced by the Royals’ public address announcer.
“[The coaches] told me I was at 966 a while back, Thorne said. “I didn’t know exactly how many I needed to reach 1,000 for my career.”
The end-of-game jam was just the cherry on top of his big night.
“When you play Bridgewater, you always want that dunk,” Thorne said. “I was lucky to get it. The dunk got the crowd hyped.”
EMU and BC are now tied with Washington & Lee for seventh place in the 12-team ODAC.
Bridgewater leading scorer Ronnie Thomas, playing in his first game after missing the previous four, came off the bench and scored four points in 21 minutes. The junior guard’s right wrist was heavily taped and appeared to bother him throughout the game.
“First half, I didn’t feel myself doing anything that I usually do,” Thomas said. “Second half, I started feeling better. This was the game I needed, so it is better for me coming back now than later.”
With Thomas ineffective, sophomore forward Ed Reddick increased his production, scoring a game-high 21 points and pulling down 10 rebounds in the loss.
The Eagles had opportunities to score at the rim but couldn’t convert in a cold first half in which they shot 9-for-34 (26.5 percent). The Eagles warmed up in the second half, shooting 14-for-30 (46.7 percent) and finished the game at 35.9 percent. EMU shot 52.7 percent from the floor throughout the game.
“If we make layups on transition baskets, it is a whole different story,” Burgess said. “But we missed too many layups tonight.”
NOTE: EMU coach Kirby Dean said that former Broadway High School standout Mike Richardson has quit the team to “focus on academics.” Richardson was averaging 2.5 points in nine minutes per game during his freshman season. He played in 13 of the Royals’ first 23 games.
BRIDGEWATER
Stapleton 1-6 0-2 2, M. Hunter 1-2 0-0 3, Adams 6-14 1-3 13, Reddick 6-15 9-10 21, McClain 1-4 0-0 2, Thomas 1-3 2-6 4, Z. Hunter 3-7 0-1 6, Welty 0-1 0-0 0, Thompson 2-3 0-0 4, Lynch 1-4 3-3 5, Waugh 1-4 0-0 2, Larson 0-1 0-0 0, Powell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-64 15-25 62.
EASTERN MENNONITE
Longacre 5-6 1-1 13, Williams 4-8 0-0 8, Daniel 4-8 1-4 9, Sims 5-10 1-1 12, Thorne 5-9 4-6 16, Valentine 2-4 0-0 4, Furbush 0-1 0-0 0, Henderson 0-1 0-0 0, Burroughs 1-3 0-0 3, Falk 2-3 0-4 4, Yates 1-2 1-5 3. Totals 29-55 8-21 72.
Halftime—EMU 36-26. 3-Point Goals—BC 1-8 (Hunter 1-1, Adams 0-1, Stapleton 0-1, Thomas 0-1, Welty 0-1, Waugh 0-1, Lynch 0-2), EMU 6-14 (Longacre 2-2, Thorne 2-5, Burroughs 1-1, Sims 1-3, Daniel 0-3). Fouled Out—Longacre. Rebounds—BC 25 (Reddick 6), EMU 33 (Longacre 8). Assists—BC 9 (Hunter 3), EMU 10 (Daniel 3). Total Fouls—BC 16, EMU 23. A—1032.