HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, VA (January 30, 2010)—Hampden-Sydney has hit its stride winning its fourth straight game with one of the biggest victories of the season beating #11 Eastern Mennonite 80-68. The Tigers were led by seniors Turner King (Roanoke, VA/Roanoke Catholic) and Jonathan Mudd (Miami, FL/American) who each scored 17 points while freshman Harrison George (Raleigh, NC/Leesville)scored 16, including a thunderous dunk in traffic to all but seal the game with three and a half minutes remaining.

Though the Tigers earned the convincing win, it was Eastern Mennonite who came out hot, jumping to a 16-4 lead over the first six minutes. Sophomore Ben Jessee (Midlothian, VA/Cosby) hit a three that propelled the Tigers on a 14-0 run that gave them their first lead of the day at 18-16.

A George Johnson triple gave the Royals their lead back, but Mudd responded with a lay up and foul to spark another Tiger run - this time 7-0.

Up 26-19 with just under eight minutes in the half, Hampden-Sydney continued to extend the lead and a George lay up gave Hampden-Sydney its first double-digit lead at 31-20. Both teams traded baskets, but the Tigers got the final strike of the half and two Colin O'Neill (Fort Leavenworth, KS/Fort Leavenworth) free throws gave the team a 38-26 halftime advantage.

Todd Phillips scored the first four points of the second stanza to cut the lead to eight, but a Mudd lay up put it back at 10. Over the next two minutes, Eastern Mennonite outscored the Tigers 9-4 to make it a 44-39 game before Hampden-Sydney went on a 10-0 run to take a 54-39 advantage.

The teams traded baskets for eight minutes and Hampden-Sydney controlled a 67-55 lead with 4:01 remaining. Eastern Mennonite began to creep in and cut the lead to seven. George put an end to the run, however, as he had the ball on a fast break, rose up on EMU's Eli Crawford and hammered the ball down while getting fouled to give the Tigers all the momentum they needed.

The Royals could not come back as Hampden-Sydney took care of the ball and iced the game from the free throw line.

On the day, Hampden-Sydney was 27-62 (43.5%) from the field but just 2-12 (16.7%) from beyond the arc. Eastern Mennonite struggled shooting and was just 25-66 (37.9%) on the day and 7-31 (22.6%) from deep.

Mudd and King led the Tigers with 17 points each while they had eight and nine rebounds respectively. George capped off another double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. O'Neill also chipped in with 12 points.

The Royals were led by George Johnson with 23 points, and Todd Phillips scored 19 points while pulling down 10 boards.

The Tigers dominated the boards outrebounding Eastern Mennonite 48-35.

The Tigers return home this Sunday, January 31, as they face the Shock of #11 Washington Adventist University. Tip off is set for 4:00 pm.