The Eastern Mennonite University men's basketball team, down by as much as 10 points, came back to defeat the Lynchburg College Hornets 87-83 Saturday night in Yoder Arena.

Four Royals scored in double-figures with junior Brad Parkes (Winchester, Va.) leading the way with 17 points, eight boards, and three assists. Parkes was instrumental down the stretch for EMU, hitting four free-throws shots with less than three minutes remaining to seal the win for EMU.

Senior Jason Sager (Edinburg, Va.) and freshman Austin Twine (Dublin, Va.) each recorded 16 points with Sager adding nine rebounds.

Lynchburg got strong production from Steven Echols who led the team with 18 points and four steals. Kwame Safo and Danny Reed each tallied 12 points for the Hornets who led the Royals going into the break 41-34.

EMU began to mount its comeback midway through the second half as a lay-up by freshman John Overstreet (Forsyth, Ga.) cut the LC lead to four at the 15:57 mark. Overstreet finished with 10 points, three boards, and two steals for EMU.

The Royals continued to chip away at the Hornet lead and tied the game with just over 11 minutes remaining on a free-throw by Parkes. The Royals, which shot 69 percent in the second half, took the lead for good on a three-pointer by sophomore LeRoger Parrish (Danville, Va.) with 10:20 remaining to make the score 62-60.

LC fought back late in the half, cutting the EMU lead from a high of nine points back down to only two with 1:38 left on the clock. Two free-throws by Overstreet and Twine each closed out the win for EMU which will travel to Hampden-Sydney on Sunday, January 28, at 3 p.m. for its next contest.

The Royals are now 6-11 overall and 2-9 in the ODAC while the Hornets fall to 6-12 overall and 3-8 in the conference.