Saturday night had all the makings of a classic. The two teams playing had split their two meetings last year, with each team carrying a chip on their shoulder about their loss. One team entered as the No. 3 team in the country while the other came in No. 7. In the end, Randolph-Macon scored first and held off a pesky Eastern Mennonite team on their own court, upsetting EMU by a score of 73-68.

The seventh-ranked Yellow Jackets, who lost at home Wednesday to No. 9 Virginia Wesleyan, came prepared for the speed of the Runnin Royals and the intensity of a packed Yoder Arena, as they scored the first eight points of the game.

George Johnson (Richmond, Va./Miller School) got the third-ranked men on track with a three-pointer at the 16:38 mark. That triggered a 10-2 run, allowing EMU to tie the game in just two minutes and 15 seconds.

Randolph-Macon was not rattled by the spurt, however, and answered with one of their own. With an 18-16 lead, the visitors scored 11 straight to blow open a 13-point lead, 29-16.

The Runnin Royals cut the cushion back down to six, where it stood at halftime, 36-30.

EMU then scored the first four of the second half to get within two at 36-34, but the Yellow Jackets zipped back up to seven in the span of a minute.

Sophomore Andrew Thorne (Front Royal, Va./Skyline) capped a 9-2 run for the Royals as he nailed a three pointer to tie the game at 47-47 with 12:37 remaining.

R-MC again had an answer, with Danny Jones (Herndon, Va./Herndon) hitting a shot in the paint to keep the visitors in the lead. That triggered a 9-1 run, which was later followed by a 6-0 run to put the Yellow Jackets back up by 13 at 64-51 with 4:15 to go.

With the suddenly big hill to climb, the Royals responded.

Eli Crawford (Staunton, Va./R.E. Lee) scored eight points in a furious 15-4 run, cutting the lead to 68-66 with a pair of free throws with 1:38 to play.

R-MC pushed the lead back to five with free throws, but a Todd Phillips (Waynesboro, Va./Waynesboro) jumper made it a one-possession game with seven seconds left, 71-68.

Eastern Mennonite was forced to foul and Adam Desgain (Richmond, Va./J.R. Tucker) calmly sank both free throws to seal the win, 73-68.

The Runnin Royals shot 47% in the loss, but were only 6-for-21 from long range for 29%. R-MC shot 46% and handled EMU's pressure well with only 15 turnovers. The men had 18 miscues, and Coach Kirby Dean said the Yellow Jackets' defense caused them problems.

"I thought Macon played a great game," Dean said. "Their match-up zone slowed us down and we had some uncharacteristic turnovers because we were tentative against the zone."

Thorne led EMU off the bench with 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting. He also had a pair of blocked shots.

Phillips finished with 12 points and a team high seven rebounds. He scored his 1,000th point with his first bucket early in the game, and becomes the 19th Royal in history to join the club. Johnson and D.J. Hinson (Newport News, Va./Menchville) became the 17th and 18th members last season.

Johnson had 10 points and hit 3-of-6 triples. He also had a game high seven assists. Hinson added 11 points.

Center Brandon Braxton (Cape Charles, Va./North Hampton) led four Yellow Jackets in double figures with 15 points. Calvin Croskey (Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park) had 14 while Jones finished with 13.

Randolph-Macon also had a 36-29 edge in rebounding, including 15 offensive boards.

The loss is not only EMU's first of the season, it also snaps a 16-game home winning streak. The men went 13-0 in Yoder Arena in 2009-10 and had won their first three there this season.

The Runnin Royals slip to 6-1 overall and 2-1 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. R-MC is 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the ODAC.

Eastern Mennonite has a week off before heading to Bridgewater for the Don Glick Classic. The men will play Averett on Saturday, Dec. 11, at 6:00pm and take on Bluefield the next afternoon.