HARRISONBURG, Va. -- A run in the final minutes by Eastern Mennonite pushed the Royals past Randolph in men's basketball action this afternoon.

The Royals took a 72-68 decision in a contest pitting two teams tied for fourth place in the ODAC entering the day.

Two teams starting the day on level terms played an extremely close game, headlined by a dozen ties and seven lead changes over the 40 minutes.

Both offenses shot well, with half of the 96 field goals attempted on the day falling, with each team converting on 24 attempts.

Each team hade at least half of their threes, with Randolph going 10-for-20 and EMU converting 10-of-17.

After the teams split early scores, EMU scored seven straight to break an 11-11 deadlock.

Randolph immediately responded, however, with a 10-0 run, including consecutive threes from junior Jason Eddie.

The half ended as it began, with the teams alternating baskets before a EMU basket before the horn sent the hosts into intermission up 36-34.

Ties at 38-38, 40-40 and 43-43 kept that trend going before a layup by first-year Andy Toe started a 9-0 WildCat spurt.

The Royals chipped away slowly, as the WildCats had answers for many scores until the waning minutes.

Junior Corey Brown drew two offensive fouls and blocked a shot down the stretch to keep Randolph within striking distance, but the offense couldn't get over the final hurdle in the last seconds, leaving EMU on top.

First-year Reid Jacoby hit four threes on his way to a team-high 14 points, while junior Zach Desgain had 13 and Eddie had 12.

Virginia Wesleyan visits Randolph on Wednesday night in another key ODAC matchup. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m.