Senior Brad Parkes (Winchester, Va./James Wood) had a season high 23 points while senior Corey Bailey (Centreville, Va./Brentsville District) had a double double with 12 points and 11 rebounds as the Eastern Mennonite University men's baskeball team gained its first victory of the season in a 95-80 win over Ferrum College.

The win moves the Royals to 1-1 overall on the season as they prepare to compete in the Don Glick Tournament on Saturday, December 1, against DeSales. That game is scheduled for 8 p.m. with the men's team then going up against Medgar Evers on the next day (Sunday, Dec. 2) at 2 p.m.

"Our young kids are coming around and they played hard, but we need to keep up the intensity and play hard for all 40 minutes and not let our guard down," stated EMU head coach Kirby Dean following the Royals win. "We needed to find a way to get some wins with the young squad that we have and especially against a Ferrum team that had two wins already."

EMU opened up with a four-point cushion until the Panthers stormed back early on in the first half and took a five point lead with 3:16 left on the clock. A layup by junior LeRoger Parrish (Danville, Va./Tunstall) following a block by Bailey tied the game at 34. The Royals then closed out the first half on a jumper by sophomore Robert Roy (Culpeper, Va./Madison Co.) to take a three point lead into the break.

Parkes scored 10 of his team high 23 points in the first half while freshman George Johnson (Richmond, Va./Miller School) had nine points off the bench for EMU.

The Royals went on a 9-0 run to start off the second half thanks in part to a trey by senior Jered Lyons (Takoma Park, Md./St. Johns at Prospect Hall) and a dunk by Bailey. Ferrum cut the EMU lead to seven points before the Royals offense again kicked it up a notch and push the lead back to double figures.

Bailey scored all 12 points in the second half while adding two steals and a block. Lyons and freshman D.J. Hinson (Newport News, Va./Menchville) each had seven points with Hinson finishing the contest with a career high 12 points. Overall, EMU had six players score in double figures with Johnson (12 points) and Parrish (11 points) adding to the Royal attack.

Marcus Mayo and Derek Mitchell led the Ferrum offense as each scored in double figures. Mayo had a team high 11 points while Mitchell added another 10 points, eight boards, and an assist.

"It was great to get the win especially with the amount of time our younger players got tonight. Brad (Parkes) just put up what we've all come to expect from him and had another solid game with Corey Bailey and Robert Roy each getting some big boards in the paint."