LEXINGTON, Va. (EMU Athletics) – After a weekend off, the Royals were back on the court on Tuesday taking on USA South foe, Southern Virginia.

With EMU leading by six late in the first half, the Knights went on a 15-0 run, spanning the final 4:54 of the first half and the 1:36 of the second half, en route to a 71-63 win.

Records: EMU 0-3, 0-0 ODAC | SVU 1-3, 0-0 USA South

Highlights

First Half
SVU opened the game up on a 4-0 run before a three from Hezekiah Brown gave the Royals their first points of the night. A layup from Edixon Blanco and a pair of free throws from Isaiah Carr, tied things at seven just three minutes into the game. A Brown free throw and a Zach Bailey layup gave EMU the lead, and they would continue to hold the lead, or maintain a tie, until the 11:23 mark after an SVU three. Later in the half, EMU would retake the lead with back-to-back threes from Bailey and Carr, leading 29-23 with 6:25 left in the frame. The three from Carr would be EMU’s last bucket of the half, as Southern Virginia went on their 11-0 run to take a 34-29 lead into the break.

Second Half
Back-to-back layups from SVU extended their run to 15, and their lead to nine, to start the second half before two Aaron Brooks free throws broke the EMU scoring drought. After an SVU bucket pushed their lead back to seven, the Royals scored the next five points, with Brooks picking up three and Brown adding two, to cut their deficit to two, 40-38. It seemed like every time EMU would chip away at the SVU lead, the Knights would hit a shot or two to re-extend their advantage. With just under eight minutes left, Payton Lewis’ layup brought the Royals back within four, but that was as close as they’d get as SVU shot a blistering 50% from the field and went 7-7 from the charity stripe, to preserve the win.

Statistical Leaders
Points: Brooks (16), Bailey (13), Brown (12)
Rebounds: Bailey (7), Brown (6)
Assists: Brown and Brooks (3)
Steals: Bailey and Brooks (3)

What’s Next
EMU will head to Bridgewater on Saturday for day one of the Carlyle Whitelow Invitational. They’ll take on Methodist at 4:00 pm.

— EMU Athletics —