Preseason polling ranked the and the in the (ODAC).

The men play their first conference game Nov. 29 at Randolph and the women host Lynchburg Nov. 24.

A for men’s only, women’s only or a combo of all men’s and women’s home games are offered. EMU’s home games routinely host large crowds, with an average of 393 fans for the women’s games, a statistic that leading the ODAC and puts EMU 39th in the nation among D-III teams. The men averaged 757 for their games, third in the ODAC and 28th out of 417 D-III team s in the nation.

Fans will definitely want to cheer the women on at home:  the Royals (88-22 over the past four years) also take a 30-game home winning streak into this season, with a 54-49 setback against Elizabethtown on Jan. 7, 2013, standing as their last loss in Yoder Arena.

Rheinheimer back for senior campaign

Despite the loss of five seniors, the ODAC’s coaches aren’t expecting much of a fall off for EMU’s women.

Eastern Mennonite, riding a string of three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, received three first-place votes and totaled 106 points in the voting.  Lynchburg College earned six first-place votes and 114 total points to claim the top spot.

The Royals had a nice postseason run in 2014-15, earning a thrilling win over LaRoche in the NCAA First Round before falling to eventual national champion Thomas More. Coach claimed his third straight and fourth overall ODAC Coach of the Year award

The Royals return three starters, including the ODAC Player of the Year and All-America forward (Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite).  A 5-10 senior, Rheinheimer scored 20.0 points with 7.8 rebounds per game last year. She was named ODAC Player of the Year and was a D3hoops.com All-America Fourth Team honoree. She was recently named to the D3hoops.com Preseason All-America First Team.

The women also return senior point guard (Conestoga, Pa./Penn Manor) (2.3ppg, 4.1rpg, 2.2apg) and sophomore guard/forward (Covington, Va./Covington) (6.3ppg, 2.0rpg).

Jones twins lead young squad

As could be expected, the ODAC coaches see that EMU’s basketball men have some rebuilding to do.  A year after finishing fourth in the standings, the Runnin Royals were tabbed to finish eighth in the nation’s toughest conference.

“Our goal is to improve every game no matter what happens,” said coach , the 2010 ODAC Coach of the Year.  “Our kids are mature enough to understand that we’re in a really, really tough league, but if we can keep everyone together, we can be one of the best teams in the league again, and probably sooner rather than later.”

Eastern Mennonite returns just six men from last year’s roster, all sophomores.  Including All-ODAC performers David Falk and Marcel Crump, the men lost six seniors from a 17-10 squad.  Five of them started during the postseason run into the ODAC Semifinals.

(Charles Town, W.V./Washington) started 14 games as a freshman in 2014-15, and was fifth on the team with a 7.6 scoring average.  He shot 36.2% from three-point range and scored in double figures in ten games.  His twin brother, (Charles Town, W.V./Washington), expects to elevate after being the backup point guard last year.  (Warrenton, Va./Kettle Run) shot a team-best 40.0% from outside and averaged 3.8 points per game.

The Runnin’ Royals open the new year Saturday, Nov. 14, hosting Virginia University of Lynchburg 30 minutes following the completion of the women’s game, or approximately 6:30 p.m.  The men play just two games in Yoder Arena over the first semester.  They also play at D-I James Madison University on Tuesday, Nov. 24.

With an offensive putback at the 12:41 mark in the second half, senior  (Dumfries, Va./Forest Park) scored her 1000th point, becoming just the 12th EMU woman to break the barrier.  High school teammate  (Dumfries, Va./Forest Park) also tied her career high with 10 assists in the win.

Eastern Mennonite’s women haven’t lost a basketball game in Yoder Arena since Jan. 7, 2013, in a 54-49 loss to Elizabethtown.

Randolph proved to be a handful in the first half, as the visitors connected on their first six field goal attempts and traded leads early.  The Royals eventually worked out to a seven point lead at 32-25, but the WildCats had a chance to grab the lead at halftime when they got the ball after an EMU turnover with the shot clock turned off.

Brown picked out a key steal with 10 seconds left before she eventually assisted  (Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) on a buzzer-beater on an inbounds play, giving the Royals a slight 39-36 cushion at the break.  Despite entering the game with a 38% shooting clip, Randolph shot a lights out 56% in the first 20 minutes, including 5-for-6 from long range, to put a scare into EMU.

The Royals took off in the second.  Holding a 44-40 lead with 17 minutes to play, the women clamped on the defense which got their transition game going.  EMU scored 13 unanswered points to blow open a 57-40 edge, capped by a Sykes layup with 14:16 left.

A minute and a half later Sykes got her big bucket to crack 1000 points and the women cruised.  Randolph would get no closer than 11 points the rest of the way to the 78-63 final score.

Eastern Mennonite stifled their guests in the second half to just 30% shooting.  For the game, the Royals finished with a 48% to 41% shooting advantage.  The women also hit on 10-of-21 attempts from three point range.

Rheinheimer scored a game high 27 points as she was 5-for-6 from outside.  She also had six rebounds.  Sykes had yet another double double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and five steals.  She has scored 1004 points in her career.

 (Covington, Va./Covington) was good for 12 points and six boards.  Brown had three steals to go with her 10 assists.

Taylor Samuels hit four triples to lead Randolph with 18 points.  Jensen Hoover finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Eastern Mennonite takes a 17-3 record into next Wednesday’s ODAC date at Shenandoah University.  Start time in Winchester is at 6:00pm.

The Royals improve to 6-1 as they get a few days off for final exams.  The women have now won 22 straight at home. Ferrum, an injury-hampered team which was picked to finish second in the USA South, slips to 2-3.

Eastern Mennonite had a 4-0 lead just 20 seconds into the game, as  (Covington, Va./Covington) buried a pair of long jumpers.  (Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) then scored the next eight, including a pair of three pointers, as the women led 12-0. Ferrum got their first bucket at the 16:19 mark, but the Royals scored the next 14 points, including four more triples, to blow open a 26-2 cushion just 8:33 in.

The Panthers rebounded with a 13-2 run to get within 28-15. EMU stayed hot from outside, however, and never let their visitors back to within single digits.

The Royals hit 10-of-13 three pointers in the first half and led 46-31 at the break.  They finished 12-of-27 for the game, but still out-shot Ferrum 49 percent to 44 percent. EMU also had a 36-30 edge in rebounding.

Rheinheimer was unstoppable and led the charge with 23 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.  (Goshen, Ind./Bethany Christian) drained 6-of-9 three pointers and finished with 18 points and two blocks.  (Dumfries, Va./Forest Park) came in with 10 points and Moore charted nine.

 (Dumfries, Va./Forest Park) had the eye for the open shooter and racked up 10 assists, easily breaking her career best for a game. She now has 17 assists over EMU’s last two outings, as the senior had seven handouts in Tuesday’s 81-76 win at Randolph-Macon.

Zarkia Mattox led Ferrum with 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists off the bench. Jacole Hairston scored 14 while Kemani Crawford added 12 points and seven boards.

EMU has the week off before playing next Saturday at The Apprentice School.  Game time in Newport News, Va., is 2 p.m.

The Royals shot 55% from the 3-point line and were led from downtown by  (Freeman, Va. / Brunswick)and  (Covington, Va. / Covington), who each made four treys.  (Dumfries, Va. / Forest Park) was a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc, helping the Royals shoot 53.8% on all field goals in the game.

 (Manheim, Pa. / Lancaster Mennonite) tallied her second double-double of the season, scoring ten points and ten rebounds. Defensively, she also blocked two shots in the game.

The Wasp’s Karina Farr led all scorers with 18 points and also added ten rebounds. Emory & Henry shot close to 35 percent from the field.

The two teams were tied at 13 with 12:32 to go in the first half. But the Royals would go on a 21-7 run over the next eight minutes to go up 34-20 with four minutes to go in the half. The Royals led 42-26 at halftime and would never allow the Wasps within 14 for the rest of the game.

The Royals now head to Randolph-Macon for a 7 p.m. tilt on Tuesday, December 2.