Box Score
February 9, 2003
EMU Falls to Guilford 92-79
HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Eastern Mennonite University men's basketball team lost its first game after breaking a 13-game losing streak. The Royals dropped a contest Guilford 92-79 on a Sunday afternoon at the University Commons.
It seemed that the happiness had faded as Guilford (10-12, 6-9 ODAC) opened up a 6-0 lead before the Royals hit their first bucket. The Quakers opened a ten-point advantage with 12:30 remaining in the first period. Eric Williams nailed a three-pointer to give Guilford the big lead. Jeremy Miller (Waynesboro, Va./Fishburne Military) came into the game to hit two from downtown for EMU cutting the deficit to four points.
EMU's battle to get back in the game faltered as the Quakers opened their lead back to nine points with 7:05 left. The Royals then got back into the game cutting a nine-point lead down to three as the Quakers went into the locker room with a 38-35 lead.
Earl Dyer (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) hit the first bucket of the second period putting EMU down by one point. The Quakers quickly jumped out to a nine-point lead outscoring the Royals 10-4 during the first five minutes of the second half. James Parker then hit a three-pointer pushing the Quakers lead to 58-47. After a timeout by the Royals, EMU cut the lead to seven points with under eleven minutes remaining.
Williams sparked the Quakers with a dunk and then scored three more points as Guilford pushed the lead to 17 points. EMU would not cut the lead below double digits for the rest of the game.
The Quakers hit 13-of-16 from the charity stripe in the second period. They outrebounded EMU 25-15 in the late period. Guilford shot 56% from the floor and 51% for the game. The Quakers had five players in double figures and three players with double-doubles. Williams led with 16 points. Clarence Martin and Jevon Clarke each added 14 points. Josh Connor scored 13 points and Brandon Clifford added 11. Clifford and Clarke had game-high 12 rebounds while Connor recorded 10.
E.J. Arrington (Staunton, Va./Stuarts Draft) led EMU with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting including knocking down three from behind the deep line. Mike Culen (Winchester, Va./James Wood) added 12 points. Miller came off the bench to score 10 points.
