HARRISONBURG, Va. – One thing you can count on when Eastern Mennonite University and Emory & Henry College get together for a men's basketball game is a high score. In the last five meetings between these two teams E&H has averaged 90 points while EMU has put up 87 points. Today, EMU broke a two-game losing streak with a 94-90 victory over visiting Emory & Henry. With the win EMU improves to 4-10 overall and 2-6 in conference play.

Emory & Henry (7-7, 4-5) opened a nine-point edge over the Royals early in the first period to take a 20-11 lead. The Royals stormed back with an 11-4 run to cut the deficit to two points 24-22 on a jumper by Jason Sager (Edinburg, Va./Central). On the next possession, the Wasps would turn the ball over and Jason Lentz (Diana, W.Va./Webster County) would tie the game for the Royals on a strong lay-up.

EMU took the lead for the first time since the beginning of the game as Sager hit for two of his career-high 29 points. Emory & Henry battled back and then took the lead with eight minutes remaining in the period as ODAC points leader Justin Call nailed a jumper to give E&H a 32-30 lead. The score would see-saw back-and-forth until the Wasps took a five-point lead at the 4:19 mark 41-36.

The Royals would fight back and tie the game for the eighth time in the first half 45-45 on a pair of free throws by Mike Culen (Winchester, Va./James Wood). Culen would end the game with a career and game-high 30 points on 9-of-16 shooting. The half would with a 5-0 run by the Wasps.

In the second half, the Wasps would push the lead to seven points, but the Royals quickly stifled the Wasps, and would come back to cut the lead to three points at 60-57. Two quick treys by E&H would push the lead back to six points, but the tide would once again turn as the Royals stormed back. Culen would nail a three while freshman guard JoMorrae Gordon (Oakdale, Calif./Pendleton County) would later convert a three-point play to give EMU a 66-65 lead. The lead would grow to four points as Culen knocked down his third from downtown.

With 9:41 remaining, Emory & Henry would regain the lead with a 6-0 run, but again the Royals had an answer as Sager touch the nets with a three-point basket. About three minutes later the game would be tied for the eleventh time at 83-83.

As the minutes ticked off the clock, EMU finally took advantage of a struggling E&H offense and went on a 7-0 run to push their lead to 90-83. Free throws that had plagued the Royals all day were critical in the final stretch as they converted 3-of-4 and held a 93-90 lead as Brandon Stanley gave E&H a glimpse of hope with two seconds remaining. The Wasps were forced to foul and sent Culen to the line in hopes of misses that would give them a chance to tie the game and send it into overtime.

Culen gave the crowd a scare as he missed the first, but relaxing himself and nailed the second free throw to solidify the victory for EMU. Culen would end the game with five shots from behind the arc.

Lentz would score a career-high 19 points and also grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds. He went 9-of-16 from the floor. Sager ended with a game-high 13 rebounds and four assists. E.J. Arrington (Staunton, Va./Stuarts Draft) scored eight points, grabbed six rebounds, and dished out five assists before fouling out. EMU outrebounded E&H 49-39 and shot 55% in the second half.

Along with Call's team-high 29 points, Ben Fisher just missed a double-double with nine points and a game-high 12 assists. Gary Kerns added 18 points while Stanley chipped 15 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.