The University of Mary Washington men's basketball team opened the 2014-15 season with a 73-55 loss to visiting Lynchburg College on Saturday at a raucous Anderson Center before 1250 fans. Senior Taylor Johnson led the Eagles with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

The Eagles dug themselves into an early hole, falling behind, 10-0, 3:30 into play, and trailed 19-1 with 12:57 to go in the first half. The eagles were able to trim the deficit to 12 thanks to a Johnson three, a pair of free throws from sophomore Brent Mahoney, and a three pointer from Curtis Rowser III, but each time the Eagles mounted a charge, the Hornets would answer. Lynchburg ran the lead to 21 at 40-19 with 4:35 to play in the half, but freshman Miguel Kissoon and Johnson hit back to back three pointers, and the Eagles trimmed the deficit to 10 in the final minute before a late Hornet basket moved the score to 44-32 at halftime.

The Eagles started the second half on a 6-0 run, thanks to baskets from Matt Forrest, Mahoney, and Johnson, but 10 straight points from the Hornets ran the lead back to 16 at 57-41 with 14:45 left. With Lynchburg holding a 66-45 lead with 8:49 to go, UMW mounted another run, using an 8-1 run to cut the score to 67-53 with 4:27 to play. After neither team would score for several minutes, Lynchburg held on for the 73-55 victory.

Mary Washington shot 40.4% from the floor (19-47), making six three pointers and went 11-16 from the free throw line. Lynchburg shot 28-64 (43.8%, making eight three pointers and went 9-14 from the line. The Hornets held a 36-33 edge in rebounding, and forced 17 UMW turnovers.

Mary Washington will return to action on Sunday when they host nationally-ranked Randolph-Macon College at 4:00 p.m. In addition to live video and live stats at umweagles.com, the game can be heard on AM1230 WFVA.