The Eastern Mennonite University men's basketball team keeps knocking off top Old Dominion Athletic Conference teams as the Royals edged preseason #4 Hampden-Sydney College 70-69.

EMU now stands at 7-3 overall and 3-0 in the ODAC. The victory by EMU is the first for the Royals in the S. Douglas Fleet Gymnasium since the 1983-84 season when the EMC Royals, led by head coach Sherman Eberly, beat the Tigers 64-62. In that game, EMU Hall of Honor member Leonard Dow led the way with 24 points.

HSC falls to 5-6 on the season, 0-2 in the conference.

The Royals, which had beaten ODAC preseason #2 Virginia Wesleyan earlier in the year, were led by sophomore guard George Johnson (Richmond, Va./Miller School) with 20 points. D.J. Hinson (Newport News, Va./Menchville) added another 15 points for EMU which shot 43 percent from the floor in the game, including a 14-for-27 effort (51 percent) in the second half.

Turner King led the Tigers with 21 points on 9-of-22 from the field. Ben Jessee chipped in 14 points off the bench for Hampden-Sydney in the loss.

"The biggest thing for us, coming into this season was mental toughness," explained head coach Kirby Dean. "I knew we had the talent, but today was the first time this team really stepped up and displayed that mental toughness that you need on the road. To come out here and get a road win is huge. There were several times the kids could've mailed it in, but they stuck with it, and George (Johnson) hit a couple of big baskets late."

The Tigers never trailed in the first half as Hampden-Sydney went on an 8-0 run before a Johnson free throw put EMU on the board. HSC moved their lead up to nine points on a John Barker layup with EMU countering with a basket by Johnson. The back-and-forth continued for most of the first half with the visiting Royals staying within striking distance of Hampden-Sydney.

After heading into the locker room with a four-point cushion (32-28) the Tigers opened with a bucket from King eight seconds into the second half. The Royals countered with a Hinson layup which keyed a 6-0 run for EMU that pushed the visiting team on top 36-34 (17:59). The two teams battled throughout the next five minutes as the lead changed four times. Hampden-Sydney seemed to gain control again at the 13:09 mark as Jessee stroked a long ball to put the home team up 48-45 with the advantage growing to eight on a Paul Matthews layup (54-46, 9:37 remaining).

EMU used their mental toughness described by coach Dean in the final 10 minutes of the contest as they methodically chipped away at the deficit. Hampden-Sydney baskets were answered by a pair of buckets from senior LeRoger Parrish (Danville, Va./Tunstall) with Todd Phillips (Waynesboro, Va./Waynesboro) also adding two points at the 5:28 mark.

The big blow to the HSC lead came at 4:02 remaining when Johnson dropped in one of his three three-pointers on the day to tie the game at 62. The lead again changed hands with the Tigers again looking to pull away as King nailed his own three-pointer with 1:54 left to put HSC up 69-67. Johnson then gave the Royals the lead and eventually the game as he drove down the court and hit the bottom of the net with another three to give EMU the one-point advantage (1:17). King had one last shot at a jumper as time expired for Hampden-Sydney only to have it fall off the wayside and seal the win for EMU.

Phillips finished with 12 points. Parrish had 10 points off the bench.

Orie Pancione (Augusta, WVa./Hampshire) had nine points and 11 rebounds in the win.

The Royals will try and keep their ODAC unbeaten streak alive as they host the Generals of Washington & Lee on Tuesday, January 6, for a 7 p.m., game in Yoder Arena.