The 15th ranked University of Mary Washington men's basketball gained its second win in as many days to open the 2025-26 season on Saturday night with a 72-64 victory over Eastern Mennonite University at Ron Rosner Arena.

Sophomore guard Kye Robinson opened the game with five straight points, but the Royals battled throughout the first half, as the lead changed hands four times, before back-to-back three pointers from sophomore Colin Mitchell and junior Kaden Bates gave UMW a 19-14 advantage with 9:47 left. Another triple from Mitchell with 8:52 to go gave UMW a 24-16 lead,  and a Bates Layup swelled the margin to ten, at 30-20, with 5:38.

The Royals trimmed the margin to four with 2:45 left, before UMW used a 7-0 run, capped by a three pointer from junior Hasah Hammad, to push the lead to 11, before a late three from EMU cut the deficit to 39-31 at halftime.

In the second, UMW extended the lead to as many 18, on a Hammad layup with 7:44 remaining. EMU responded with an 11-0 run that trimmed the margin to seven with 4:25 left, but a Robinson three-point play quickly put the margin back to double figures, and the Eagles maintained a healthy cushion down the stretch.

Robinson led all scorers with 23 points (4-9 fg, 14-18 ft), while Hammad added 13 points on 5-8 shooting, and Bates scored 12. Junior Jay Randall led with seven rebounds, and Robinson posted four assists.

UMW shot 22-56 from the field (39.3%), making 8-25 three point tries, and 20-26 free throws. EMU shot 25-52 from the field, including 7-24 three point attempts, and went 7-12 from the free throw line. The Eagles led in rebounds, 42-29.

The Eagles will be back in action on Wednesday, when the Eagles host Rowan University at 6:00 p.m.