HARRISONBURG, Va. – Senior center David Falk hit 1-of-2 foul shots with just five seconds remaining to lift Eastern Mennonite to a 78-77 win over Washington and Lee in ODAC men's basketball action on Wednesday evening at Yoder Arena.

The Generals (2-5, 0-1) had not trailed since taking a 24-22 lead on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Andy Kleinlein (Chesterfield, Mo. / Chaminade College Prep) with 9:57 left in the first half.

W&L maintained a five-point lead (75-70) with 3:36 left in the game, but a jumper by senior forward Ryan Yates followed by a three-pointer from first-year guard Jerome Jones at 2:54 pulled the Royals (4-1, 1-0) even (75-75) for the first time in the second half.   First-year forward Clayton Murtha (Dallas, Texas / Highland Park) hit a layup just 27 seconds later to give W&L the lead back, but Yates tied it at 77-77 on a jumper with 1:39 left.

The Generals had two shots to take the lead in the final 1:14, but both were blocked setting up the Royals with possession for the final 30 seconds.  W&L forced a missed jumper by senior guard Marcel Crump with eight seconds left, but Falk gathered the rebound and was fouled with five seconds remaining.  He missed the first charity toss, but hit the second and the Generals couldn't get a shot off before the buzzer as EMU escaped with the win.

W&L shot 50.0 percent (15-30) from the floor in the first half and used a 12-2 run late in the first half to assume a 46-36 lead at the break.  Despite cooling down to 40.7 percent (11-27) in the second half, the Generals still held an eight-point lead (70-62) following a layup by first-year forward Joe Sherwood (Madison, N.J. / Seton Hall Prep) with 6:38 left.  EMU chipped away at the W&L advantage, eventually tying the game on Jones' jumper with 2:54 remaining.

The Generals finished 26-of-57 (.456) for the game, hitting 9-of-18 (.500) from distance and 16-of-21 (.762) from the foul line.  Senior forward Patrick O'Connor (Richmond, Va. / Douglas Freeman) led W&L in scoring with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while junior forward Andrew Franz (Charlotte, N.C. / Ravenscroft) tallied 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists.  Murtha posted 13 points and nine rebounds, and sophomore guard Stephen Himmelberg (Chapel Hill, N.C. / Chapel Hill) added a career-high 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc.

EMU was led by Falk's 19 points and 16 rebounds.  Crump had 16 points, while Jones totaled 12 markers.  Yates finished with 11 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.  As a team, the Royals shot 40.8 percent from the floor (29-71) and held a 43-37 edge on the boards.

Washington and Lee returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Bridgewater for a 4:00 pm contest.

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