In the quarterfinals of the ODAC tournament, the Royals men's basketball team traveled to Lynchburg, Va. to take on the University of Lynchburg Hornets. Despite an effort reminiscent of the regular season contest at Yoder Arena against the same team, one where EMU showed that they were a team to be reckoned with in the shortened 2021 season, the Royals lost to the Hornets by a score of 79-77.

The game was a tight one throughout, with both teams trading punches and keeping the score close. The Royals found themselves behind for a majority of the first half, until a three from Tim Jones (Forestville, Md./Central) tied the score 40-40 with 3:14 left in the half.

The first half would come down to the wire, but a three from Landon Sutton of the Hornets pushed the score to 45-42 heading into the half in favor of Lynchburg.

The Hornets held the lead throughout the second half, having the Royals right behind them the entire time. Mark Burkholder (Broadway, Va./Petersburg/Geneva) sank a three to put the men within one with 8:06 left in the contest. A free throw from the hands of Jones would tie the game at 65-65 with minutes to play.

The excitement continued, with the Royals gaining the lead from an inside drive from Jones pushing the score to 70-69 with just 5:29 to play.

A free throw by the Hornets pushed the score in their favor to 73-72 heading into the final minutes.

Eastern Mennonite saw themselves down five with under a minute to play, but they found new life. A three from senior Michael Williams (Richmond, Va./Varina) and another drive from Jones tied the score at 77-77 with just 0:12 left to play in the game.

But after pushing the ball up the floor, Lynchburg's Tharon Suggs pulled up a jump shot within the arc, sinking it in the final second of the game to push the score to 79-77.

With under a second left on the clock, the Royals looked for a desperation shot, but there was not enough time to get it off, finding themselves on the short end and headed back to Harrisonburg with their season ended in heartbreaking fashion.

Jones once again put forth a stellar performance for the Royals, tying his career high with 27 points. The senior added an impressive nine assists and nine rebounds.

On top of the big three down the stretch, Williams added 14 key points for the Royals off of the bench.

DJ Hill (Woodbridge, Va./Hylton) finished his career for the Royals off with 14 points.

The Hornets spread the wealth, having five players with double-digit points in the contest, with T.C. Thacker and Suggs having double-doubles, respectively.