Lynchburg, Va. -- University of Lynchburg men's basketball junior guard Deondre Ross scored a season-high 22 points, and 16 Hornets recorded a point as Lynchburg defeated EMU 100-74 in Turner Gymnasium Sunday afternoon.
After scoring the most points for the program in a single game since 2018 with a 99-point output in the season-opener against Regent, Lynchburg exploded to crack the century mark and has scored 80 or more points in three of its first five games after reaching that mark just seven times all of last season.
The two teams traded baskets in the early going, playing to a 5-5 tie after the game's first four minutes. A made three-pointer from senior forward Miles Taylor 24 seconds after checking into the game gave the Hornets an 8-5 advantage that the home team would never surrender.
Taylor scored a season-high 16 points off the bench to pair with nine rebounds and has scored 29 points in just 33 minutes across the past two games.
The Taylor bucket kicked off a 19-4 Lynchburg run that saw the lead grow to a game-high 15 points after a Ross triple pushed the score to 24-9.
The Royals responded with an 11-5 run of their own with the help of three-straight possessions ending with a made deep ball to make the game as close as it would be the rest of the way at 29-20 with six minutes remaining in the first half.
Lynchburg dominated down the stretch in the first half, outscoring EMU 18-6 the rest of the way, with 10 of graduate transfer forward Cameron O'Conner's season-high 17 points scored over that period.
Lynchburg had an opportunity to push for a two-for-one opportunity to close out the period but elected instead to stay patient, as Ross found O'Conner cutting to the basket for a layup to push the score to 47-26 with 25 seconds remaining.
That allowed EMU to set up the final possession of the second half, with Royals' leading scorer Aviwe Mahlong lining up a three that was blocked at the perimeter by Lynchburg's Jonathan Foust as time expired on the first. Foust blocked two three point attempts in the first half and chipped in five points and a rebound for the day.
The 47 first half points were the most in an opening frame for Lynchburg on the season and was the second highest-scoring half overall for the Hornets this year.
Lynchburg continued to dictate the pace and flow of the game coming out of the halftime break, scoring 10 quick points in the first 2:10 of the second half to extend the lead to its largest margin to that point at 28 after Ross converted an and-one.
Ross got out on the break after O'Conner poked the ball away from EMU's Michael Watlington, scoring at the rim and drawing the foul to make it 57-29 following the made free throw.
Lynchburg scored 20 points in transition and 24 off of 12 forced turnovers against the Royals.
EMU never drew closer than 20 points again and Lynchburg pushed the lead first out to 30 with a Taylor basket in close and later to a game-high 36 after a mid-range basket from senior forward Alex Fitch.
Lynchburg reached the 100-point plateau for the first time since January of 2018 off of the first field goal of the day from senior center Matt Johnson.
Lynchburg scored 50 points in the paint and got a large contribution of 45 points from its reserves in a team win that saw the Hornets shoot season-bests of 61.9% from the floor and 47.4% from three.
The Hornets are off to a perfect start to conference play for the second-straight season after defeating EMU to start conference play a year ago to the day on November 26, 2022.
Lynchburg (3-2, 1-0) secured its first win in conference play and its second-straight victory after an 81-58 win over Methodist earlier this week. The Hornets will host in-town rival Randolph Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 5 p.m.
Visit Lynchburg athletics' home online, LynchburgSports.com, anytime for up-to-the-minute news on all Hornets sports and coverage from the Lynchburg Hornets Sports Network.
Sign up here to receive Lynchburg Sports news in your email inbox.
Give Lynchburg Sports a like on Facebook, and follow Lynchburg athletics on Instagram and X.
--LYN--
