HARRISONBURG, Va. - This one is going to sting. 

EMU led by as many as eight in the first half but visiting Bridgewater rode a strong shooting performance en route to a 85-74 win over EMU in the first round of the ODAC Tournament. The loss ends the Royals season, as they finish 10-14 overall and 8-8 in the ODAC. It also ends the career of four EMU seniors, Myles Crawley, Chris Simmons, Kobi Alexander and Tim Jones. 

Highlights

• Both offenses were shaking off some playoff nerves to start the game as neither team was able to get on the board for over two minutes. Jones broke the Royals scoring drought, hitting a pair of freethrows to give EMU an early 2-0 lead. The teams would trade threes with EMU picking up a pair from Aviwe Mahlong to pull ahead, followed by a Landon Swingler dunk that brought the crowd to its feet. A Burkholder layup followed by a bucket and-one from Jones put EMU ahead by six. 
• The teams traded points until a Jones layup gave EMU a nine-point lead, its largest of the game. EMU would continue to hold the lead until, leading 32-25, Bridgewater went on an 18-2 run to take a 43-34 lead. The Royals were able to pull within three late in the half but an Eagle three extended their halftime lead to six. 
• EMU made some strong adjustments at the half and came out with a big run of their own, 13-4, to take a 55-52 lead early in the second half. Bridgewater re-took the lead before a DaiJordan freethrow tied things back at 56. BC pulled ahead with a 10-2 tilt and would never trail again. EMU was able to pull within five but went cold from the floor, scoring just eight points in the final 7:49. 
• Jones had a strong night to end his Royals career, finishing with 23 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Mahlong added 14 on 4-8 shooting from three while Burkholder chipped in 11 to go along with eight boards. 

By the Numbers 

• 33 - #33, Tim Jones, ends his stellar career at EMU, leaving his name on the record books. He ranks 17th in career points with 1230 and third in career assists with 347. 

What's Next

EMU's season comes to a close but the Royals will be optimistic heading into 2022-23. They'll return quite a bit of depth from this year's squad that ended the regular season 5-3 in its final eight games. 

To keep up to date with everything surrounding the men's basketball program this year follow EMU on Twitter and Instagram, like EMU Athletics on Facebook or visit our website.