The men’s basketball team was all tied up going into halftime, but fell short as they lost to Roanoke 73-65 on Saturday, Jan. 27. After a back and forth affair, the Runnin Royals fell to 8-10 on the season and 3-7 in the ODAC, while Roanoke improved to 12-7 and 5-5 in the ODAC. Leading the team were seniors Isaiah Harris-Winn and Maleke Jones, who led the team in scoring with 16 points and 15 points respectively. Harris-Winn also led the team in rebounds with 13 while junior Sammy Thomas had seven. With that performance, Harris-Winn earned his seventh double of the year. The game was a close one for most of the game until Roanoke scored on five straight possessions for a 14-0 run for a comfortable 52-38 lead with 14:41 left. The Runnin Royals were able to cut the deficit to one, 59-58, with 6:28 to play on back to back three pointers from Jones, but it was not enough. The team’s next game will be Saturday, Feb. 3 against Hampden-Sydney College (5-14, 2-8 ODAC), which will also be Men’s Basketball Alumni Day.

The women’s basketball team was not able to grab a victory either on Saturday as they fell to Emory & Henry College 81-72. The Lady Royals fell to 10-8 on the season and 5-5 in ODAC play while Emory & Henry improved to 14-5 and 7-3 in the ODAC. Senior Myneshia Walker had a huge offensive outburst as she scored 27 points and sophomore Lindsey Krisak chipped in with 17 points of her own. Sophomore Chrissy Delawder led on the defensive side of the ball with seven rebounds. Emory & Henry entered Saturday’s game shooting just 30.5 percent from three-point range. However, the Wasps countered the Lady Royals’ game-opening zone defense by canning four triples and shooting 53 percent from the floor. The visitors stormed to a 22-8 lead less than ten minutes into play. The Royals turned on their defense in the second, holding Emory & Henry to a single field goal during an 11-4 streak, but it ended up not being enough. The Lady Royals’ next game will be Saturday, Feb. 3 at Roanoke College (7-12, 4-6 ODAC).