HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, VA (January 3, 2008)—The ODAC is one of the toughest conferences in all of Division III basketball, one where any team can beat another on a given night.
As if they didn't know already, Hampden-Sydney witnessed that fact first hand Saturday afternoon.
Eastern Mennonite's George Johnson canned a three-pointer with 1:17 to play, capping an 18-9 closing run for the Royals and giving the visitors a 70-69 victory over Hampden-Sydney (5-6, 0-2 ODAC) at S. Douglas Fleet Gymnasium.
Trailing by one with 15 seconds remaining, the Tigers were unable to get off a shot attempt, keeping the Royals (7-3, 3-0 ODAC) unbeaten in conference play on the young season.
Turner King (Roanoke, VA/Roanoke Catholic) led all scorers with 21 points, but the tough EMU man-to-man defense held the ODAC's leading scorer to just five points in the second half.
For the second straight game, Hampden-Sydney jumped out to comfortable lead very early, scoring eight points before the Royals reached the scoreboard. Behind King's 16 first half points, the Tigers maintained the lead for the entire first half, taking a 32-28 lead into the locker room.
Hampden-Sydney held the Royals to 35.7 percent (10-28) shooting in the opening half and forced eight EMU turnovers.
The Royals came out of the gates quickly in the second half, earning their first tie of the contest at 34-34 on a jumper by LeRoger Parrish at the 18:13 mark.
The teams fought neck-and-neck for the next 10:12, as another Parrish jump shot trimmed the Hampden-Sydney lead back to two, 54-52, with 8:01 to play.
But Hampden-Sydney finally created some breathing room, holding the Royals scoreless for the next 3:15 while partaking on a 6-0 run. Two John Barker (Raleigh, NC/Broughton) free throws put the Tigers ahead 60-52 with 5:44 remaining in the game.
The Royals needed little time to get back into the game, using a 7-0 spurt of their own to crawl back within 60-59 on a pair of Parrish foul shots at the 4:22 mark.
A King triple from the wing put the Tigers in front 69-67 with 1:54 remaining, but Eastern Mennonite's Johnson calmly sank a three on the Royals ensuing possession, giving the advantage back to his Royals, 70-69 at 1:17.
King's jumper on the Tigers' next possession came up empty, and after a missed Austin Twine deep ball at the other end, Hampden-Sydney could not manage to get off a potential game-winning attempt as time expired.
Ben Jessee (Midlothian, VA/Cosby) tallied his second consecutive career-high performance with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Colin O'Neill (Fort Leavenworth, KS/Leavenworth) pulled down a career-best 10 rebounds to go along with his six points. Barker was also solid for Hampden-Sydney, scoring eight points, snagging six rebounds and dishing out four assists.
Hampden-Sydney shot 41.7 percent (25-60) for the game, but continued to struggle from beyond-the-arc, hitting just 6-of-23 (26.1 percent) for the game.
Johnson paced the Royals with 20 points and was joined in double figures by three of his teammates; D.J. Hinson (15 points), Todd Phillips (12) and Parrish (10). Orie Pancione snared a game-high 11 rebounds and was one point shy of a double-double (9 points) in the winning effort.
Hampden-Sydney will return to the hardwood on Wednesday, January 7 when it travels to Ashland, VA to take on arch-rival Randolph-Macon at 7 pm.
