In recent years there has been no love lost between ODAC basketball rivals Randolph-Macon and Eastern Mennonite. Wednesday was merely a continuation of the rapidly growing grit-fest in which the No. 11 Yellow Jackets (13-2, 6-1 ODAC) and No. 14 Royals (11-3, 2-3) battled to the bitter end.

  In a game that saw 10 ties and 11 lead changes, Randolph-Macon did not secure the victory until the final second of play when senior Danny Jones, who led all scorers with 26 points and eight rebounds, was fouled after pulling down a defensive rebound then sank two free throws for an 83-78 win.

  The Yellow Jackets knew they would face a fired up Royal team after handing then No. 3 ranked EMU their first loss of the season on their home floor on December 4.

  “It started last year,” Jones said. “Every time we get together it’s a battle and give them credit today. They battled, we battled and we were fortunate enough to get the extra points when we needed it.”

  R-MC came into the contest leading the nation in scoring defense, holding opponents to 53.1 points per game. The 78 paints by the Royals were the most that the Yellow Jackets have given up all season, despite holding EMU to 40.3 percent shooting from the floor. Macon has only given up more than 65 points twice this season, both times to the Royals.

  “It was an exciting game,” said R-MC head coach Nathan Davis. “You’ve got two good teams out there going at each other.

  “Whenever we play them it’s going to be tight ball game,” Davis said. “It’s going to be back and forth and the team that makes the most plays and plays with the most poise is probably going to get out of their with the win.”

  R-MC most definitely made the plays when they needed them.

  Trailing by five points, 62-67, with 4:25 to play, Macon’s Calvin Croskey and Adam Desgain paired up for the play of the game. Running after an errant pass with the shot clock expiring, Croskey dove toward the R-MC bench and got a hand on the ball so close to his coach that Davis flinched. But Croskey managed to bat the ball towards Desgain, who was open in the corner for a three that ignited the nearly 1000 fans in attendance.

  A pair of free throws and a layup from Jones bracketed a scoring drive by Brown. Desgain then hit a free throw to cap a 10-0 Jackets’ run and give R-MC a 72-67 lead.

  R-MC appeared to have the game secured when Jones slashed into the lane for a layup and a 76-70 lead with 50 seconds to play. But EMU, which was 6-for-10 on threes in the second half, was not about to go quietly. Richmond native George Johnson (15 points), who came into the contest as the No. 5 scorer in the ODAC, drilled a three then watched as teammate D.J. Hinson stole the ball from Croskey. Johnson got the ball back to score inside and trim the R-MC lead to one with 34 seconds left in the contest.

  A pair of free throws from Croskey (14 points) widened R-MC’s margin back to three but Johnson knotted the game at 78-78 with another 3-pointer with 24 seconds to play.

  However, seven seniors added a level of maturity that R-MC needed down the stretch. “We’ve learned all year not to panic in those situations,” Jones said. “That’s part of basketball. We’ve learned just to get back into it and play hard from there.”

  “With seven seniors and two juniors we just play hard for 40 minutes,” Desgain said. “Coach always tells us it’s not a 30 minute game it’s a 40 minute game so if you get down early, you get down five minutes left, you get down with 11 minutes left, you’ve just got to fight to the end and you come out on top.”

  The Jackets made 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to take the win.

  A glance at the stat sheet gives quick proof to the physical nature of the game. A total of 45 fouls were called in the contest between the two teams and the night ended with a major contributor from each squad riding the pine.

  “It was definitely a physical game and 45 fouls is not that surprising,” Jones said. “With a game like this, the intensity like this, the refs were trying to keep it under control and I think they did a good job of that.”

  EMU’s Todd Phillips, the ODAC’s leading scorer, left the game with 20 points when he fouled out with 2:06 to play. 

  R-MC’s Eric Pugh picked up his fifth during an odd sequence with 1:31 remaining when he fouled EMU’s Andrew Throne during a scramble for the ball. Things got a little chippy when 6-5 250 Royal forward Orie Pancione gave Brown a two-handed shove to the floor to earn a technical and his fifth foul.

  The officials then sent Pugh to the line to shoot R-MC’s technical free throws before realizing he had already fouled out. Pugh made one of two shots before the officials realized their mistake. EMU head coach Kirby Dean retorted with a slammed chair when Desgain was then sent to the line to re-shoot the technical free throws, but he too went 1-for-2.

  Not known for their physical nature, the Yellow Jackets had difficulty dealing with the hands-on defense of the Royals all night. EMU scored 23 points off 23 R-MC turnovers, 12 of which came off Royal steals.

  “That’s the way they play,” Davis said. “They’re going to try to turn you over. Twelve in the first half I thought was too many, 11 in the second half was too many. A lot them came at the end I thought. We had chances to secure the ball a couple of times and we didn’t do a good job of that. We don’t want to turn it over 23 times but again, that is what they’re trying to do and there’s a reason why they do it. You’ve got to be able to play through those things and still find a way to win and we were able to do that today.”

  Normally sure-handed guards Pugh and Croskey combined for 10 of the Jackets’ turnovers in the contest.

  “With their defense, when they get up and pressure us, we’ve got to learn to control and play our game instead of playing to their speed,” Jones said. “In the second half we were able to do that and get some of the shots we wanted.”

  The game was far from a thing of beauty in the first half as the two teams made a combined one of eight shots in the first three minutes of play.

  R-MC trailed by two as the first half clock wound down but Kevin Voelkel retrieved a loose ball near mid court then drilled a three at the buzzer to give the Yellow Jackets a 30-29 lead heading into the locker room.

  R-MC shot 40 percent in the first half while EMU was limited to 33.3 percent from the floor and a miserable 41.7 percent from the free throw line where they were 5-of-12.

  “The first half we weren’t doing a good job of getting the ball reversed, a lot of screening things like that,” Davis said. “The second half we did a better job.”

  The Yellow Jackets shot 64.3 percent in the second half including 57.1 on 3-pointers.

  R-MC’s Brandon Braxton scored 16 points going 7-for-7 from the floor and pulling down seven rebounds.

  On Saturday, Braxton led four Yellow Jackets in double figures with 15 and nine rebounds as R-MC defeated visiting Emory and Henry 75-48 to improve to 14-2 / 7-1 ODAC. Desgain chipped in with five three’s for 15 points as well.

  R-MC returns to the hardwood Wednesday, January 19 when they host Lynchburg for a 7 p.m. ODAC contest.

RANDOLPH-MACON 83, EASTERN MENNONITE 78
EASTERN MENNONITE (11-3 (2-3 ODAC))
PHILLIPS, Todd 9-17 1-1 20; JOHNSON, George 5-12 2-2 15; HINSON, D.J. 3-12
2-3 10; CRAWFORD, Eli 3-8 1-2 8; PANCIONE, Orie 4-10 0-0 8; THORNE, Andrew
1-4 5-6 7; ORGAN, Marlon 3-7 0-0 7; SIMS, R.J. 1-3 0-2 2; LONGACRE, Owen 0-0
1-2 1; WASHINGTON, Vance 0-0 0-2 0; BURROUGHS, Adam 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-73
12-20 78.
RANDOLPH-MACON (13-2 (6-1 ODAC))
JONES, Danny 8-10 9-12 26; BRAXTON, Brandon 7-7 2-2 16; CROSKEY, Calvin 4-10
4-4 14; BROWN, Jordan 4-9 1-2 9; DESGAIN, Adam 1-3 5-6 8; VOELKEL, Kevin 2-3
0-0 5; PUGH, Eric 1-3 0-0 3; GIGGETTS, Lamar 1-6 0-0 2; CAMPION, Billy 0-0
0-0 0; SCHEELER, Thomas 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-52 21-26 83.
Eastern Mennonite…..........  29   49 -  78
Randolph-Macon….............  30   53 -  83
3-point goals—Eastern Mennonite 8-16 (JOHNSON, George 3-7; HINSON, D.J.
2-3; PHILLIPS, Todd 1-3; CRAWFORD, Eli 1-1; ORGAN, Marlon 1-2),
Randolph-Macon 6-15 (CROSKEY, Calvin 2-5; VOELKEL, Kevin 1-1; DESGAIN, Adam
1-3; JONES, Danny 1-1; PUGH, Eric 1-1; SCHEELER, Thomas 0-1; GIGGETTS, Lamar
0-1; BROWN, Jordan 0-2). Fouled out—Eastern Mennonite-PHILLIPS, Todd;
PANCIONE, Orie, Randolph-Macon-PUGH, Eric. Rebounds—Eastern Mennonite 36
(PANCIONE, Orie 9), Randolph-Macon 41 (JONES, Danny 8). Assists—Eastern
Mennonite 7 (HINSON, D.J. 3), Randolph-Macon 11 (BROWN, Jordan 3). Total
fouls—Eastern Mennonite 25, Randolph-Macon 21. Technical fouls—Eastern
Mennonite-PANCIONE, Orie, Randolph-Macon-None. A-979

RANDOLPH-MACON 75, EMORY & HENRY 48
EMORY & HENRY (3-12 0-7 ODAC)
GRIGG, Terrance 4-10 5-7 13; GREEN, Malcolm 4-5 1-2 9; OWENS, Michael 2-3
3-4 8; MULLINS, Tyler 3-7 0-2 6; MURRAY, JT 1-3 2-2 4; SENSABAUGH, Kyle 1-1
0-0 2; STAFFORD, Bobby 1-3 0-0 2; SMITH, Charles 1-2 0-1 2; TERRELL, Jorel
1-6 0-0 2; HAYDEN, Noah 0-0 0-0 0; CUNNINGHAM, Josh 0-1 0-0 0; EARLE, Joey
0-0 0-0 0; HOWARD, Robert 0-2 0-0 0; COLES, Cameron 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 18-43
11-20 48.
RANDOLPH-MACON (14-2 7-1 ODAC)
BRAXTON, Brandon 4-8 7-7 15; DESGAIN, Adam 5-8 0-0 15; JONES, Danny 4-8 4-4
14; PUGH, Eric 3-9 3-4 11; CROSKEY, Calvin 3-9 1-1 9; GIGGETTS, Lamar 2-4
2-2 6; BROWN, Jordan 1-2 3-4 5; COLE, Dylan 0-0 0-0 0; CAMPION, Billy 0-0
0-0 0; SCHEELER, Thomas 0-2 0-0 0; SIMON, Andre 0-0 0-0 0; POWELL, Jamaal
0-0 0-0 0; VOELKEL, Kevin 0-0 0-0 0; ROBINSON, Jamie 0-0 0-0 0; COOK, Chris
0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-50 20-22 75.
Emory & Henry…..............  29   19 -  48
Randolph-Macon….............  38   37 -  75
3-point goals—Emory & Henry 1-9 (OWENS, Michael 1-2; GREEN, Malcolm 0-1;
MULLINS, Tyler 0-2; MURRAY, JT 0-1; CUNNINGHAM, Josh 0-1; HOWARD, Robert
0-1; GRIGG, Terrance 0-1), Randolph-Macon 11-31 (DESGAIN, Adam 5-8; CROSKEY,
Calvin 2-7; JONES, Danny 2-5; PUGH, Eric 2-7; SCHEELER, Thomas 0-2; BROWN,
Jordan 0-1; GIGGETTS, Lamar 0-1). Fouled out—Emory & Henry-GRIGG, Terrance,
Randolph-Macon-None. Rebounds—Emory & Henry 27 (SMITH, Charles 6; MULLINS,
Tyler 6), Randolph-Macon 33 (BRAXTON, Brandon 9). Assists—Emory & Henry 8
(STAFFORD, Bobby 3), Randolph-Macon 16 (CROSKEY, Calvin 4). Total
fouls—Emory & Henry 20, Randolph-Macon 19. Technical fouls—Emory &
Henry-GRIGG, Terrance, Randolph-Macon-None. A-979