HARRISONBURG, Va. — Eastern Mennonite had three players score at least 15 points on its way to an 85-76 victory over the Washington and Lee men's basketball team on Wednesday at Yoder Arena.

The Royals (7-10, 2-7 ODAC) held a 19-16 advantage midway through the first half, but the Generals (10-7, 3-5 ODAC) went on a 10-0 run to grab a 26-19 lead with six minutes left in the stanza. During the spurt, junior guard Andy Kleinlein (Chesterfield, Mo./Chaminade College Prep) and senior forward Andrew Franz (Charlotte, N.C./Ravenscroft) each netted three-pointers.

EMU sophomore wing Rashawn Latimer answered with eight points over the next minute and a half to trim the margin to one (28-27) with 4:29 remaining in the half. The squads traded runs over the final four minutes, with the Royals heading into the break with a 36-34 lead.

The teams went back-and-forth over the first 10 minutes of the second half, with first-year guard Devin Kearns (Cibolo, Texas/Samuel Clemens) converting an old-fashioned three-point play to knot the game at 54-54 with 10:16 on the clock. On the ensuing possession, sophomore wing Jerome Jones knocked down a triple to give EMU a 57-54 advantage.

After back-to-back turnovers by the Blue and White, the Royals made a pair of free throws, and then sophomore wing Christian Hansen threw down a dunk to push the Royals lead to 61-54 with 8:15 on the clock. A layup by Kleinlein stopped the run and brought the Generals to within six (61-56) at the 7:50 mark, but W&L would get no closer the rest of the game. Over the final seven minutes, EMU outscored the Generals, 24-20, while hitting 14-of-17 free throws to reach the final margin.

Kleinlein notched his second consecutive 21-point game, as he finished 7-of-12 from the floor. He also had nine rebounds and five assists. Sophomore forward Clayton Murtha (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park) just missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds. Franz netted 15 points and five rebounds.

Latimer came off the bench for the Royals to record his 17 points. Jerome Jones totaled 16 points and seven rebounds, and sophomore guard Maleke Jones added 16 points and four assists.

Each team finished the night just north of 40 percent from the floor. W&L made 28-of-67 shots (41.8 percent) and EMU connected on 26-of-60 (43.3 percent) attempts. The Royals hurt the Blue and White in the open court with a 15-5 advantage in fast break points.

The Generals return to action on Saturday at Guilford at 2:00 pm.

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