After falling behind 9-2, Eastern Mennonite led by as much as 35-21 before turnovers and poor free throw shooting let the Panthers get back in the game.聽 A 13-2 run by Ferrum gave the visitors their first lead since the opening minutes at 60-59 with 6:28 remaining.聽 The surge continued to a 69-62 edge for FC with 3:07 to go in regulation.

That’s when the men finally started to hit some free throws.聽 Over the first 37 minutes of play, the Royals made just 14-of-35 charity tosses.聽 But the men went 4-8 in the final three minutes of regulation, and even the misses proved crucial.

After the Panthers converted a big three-point play to lead 72-65 with 1:43 to go, (Front Royal, VA/Skyline) made a layup to trim the lead to five.聽 (Madison, VA/Madison) swatted away a Ferrum shot with 45 seconds to go and the Royals had life.聽 Thorne missed two free throws, but (Fort Washington, MD/Friendly) picked out a steal after a Ferrum rebound, and then zipped a pass to Falk for a dunk with 25 seconds showing.

Down by three, the Royals still needed some magic.聽 Falk started it by forcing a turnover on the inbounds pass. 聽He was strategically fouled with 22 seconds to go, but hit the first attempt to trim the lead to 72-70.聽 His second attempt bounced off the front of the rim, and Thorne swooped in for an offensive board, and found Sims for a layup to knot up the score at 72-72 with 18 seconds left. 聽91短视频 scored five points in a seven-second span to erase the deficit.

Ferrum managed to get off a shot in the closing seconds, but it wasn’t close and the game headed to overtime.

The streak continued for the Runnin Royals, as they scored the first six points of OT to go ahead 78-72 after a Sims three-point play.聽 The Panthers finally got two free throws to end the 13-0 run, but they wouldn’t get closer than four points the rest of the way.

After the cold start, Eastern Mennonite connected on 13-of-19 free throws over final eight minutes of the contest to help ice the win.聽 They still finished 27-54 in the game, setting a program record for free throws attempted.

The Royals shot 56% from the floor, including 4-10 from outside, and forced 30 Ferrum turnovers.聽 The Panthers stayed in the game by shooting 47% from the floor and nailing 28-of-31 free throws.聽 They also had a 38-28 edge in rebounding.

(Fredericksburg, VA/Mountain View) helped steady the men throughout the game and led all scorers with 27 points, tying his career high.聽 Falk was 10-11 from the floor and tallied 24 points with a game high four steals.聽 Sims picked up his scoring in crunch time and finished with 16.聽 Thorne had nine rebounds, including five offensive, and five assists.

The Eastern Mennonite men remain at home next week, hosting Frostburg State on Tuesday and Marymount next Sunday.

The classic will be two of the Royals’ 14 home games in their 24-game schedule, which was released today.聽 91短视频 hosts York (NY), Stevenson and Mary Baldwin at the classic, playing Stevenson at 8:00pm on Nov. 18 and York at 4:00pm on Nov. 19.聽 MBC will play the other team beforehand each day.

After the season-opening weekend, the women jump right into their 20-game Old Dominion Athletic Conference slate, playing at last year’s champion, Randolph-Macon, on Nov. 22.聽 The tough start continues with a Nov. 28 game at Bridgewater, which tied R-MC for the regular crown, and then a Nov. 30 hosting of Roanoke, which finished third.

The Royals play five of their eight pre-Christmas games at home, wrapping up with a non-conference contest with Shenandoah on Dec. 17.

Lynchburg comes to Harrisonburg on Jan. 3 to start the 2012 half of the schedule.聽 The women play seven home games in the month of January, including rival Bridgewater on Jan. 24.

The final home game of the year is Feb. 11 when Virginia Wesleyan visits.聽 Eastern Mennonite then closes with games at Randolph, Emory & Henry and Guilford.聽 The ODAC Tournament starts Feb. 23.

The Royals finished 15-11 in 2010-11 with a 13-7 mark in the ODAC, making the conference tourney for the tenth straight year.

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