The Eastern Mennonite University men's basketball team shot 66 percent in the second half compared to only 34 percent for Lynchburg as the Royals pulled away for the Hornets for a 92-78 conference win.

EMU improves to 4-5 on the season and 1-2 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Lynchburg drops to 2-7 overall and 0-3 in the ODAC.

"Tonight's game was the way we need to play to be successful," explained EMU head coach Kirby Dean. "We pressured them and used our speed and quickness in the second half to gain an advantage."

Senior forward Brad Parkes (Winchester, Va./James Wood) led the Royals with 21 points with freshman guard George Johnson (Richmond, Va./Miller School) adding 15 points and four assists.

Mason Wooldridge had 21 points and six boards for Lynchburg with Kwame Safo recording 14 points and a team high seven assists.

The Hornets started off strong in the first half with Lynchburg gaining a five-point lead with 16:27 on the clock (8-3) following a Brad Puffenbarger three-pointer. EMU responded and tied the game at eight all on a layup by Parkes before Lynchburg, which hit 10-of-14 from behind the arc, pulled ahead by seven with 10 minutes remainining in the half.

Even Fancourt had a team high 11 points in the first half with Wooldridge contributing another 10 points and four boards.

Lynchburg went ahead by 11 with just under two minutes remaining until the Royals closed to seven following a bucket by Parkes to head into the locker room down only 45-38.

The Royals slowly began to chip away at the Lynchburg lead in the second half and eventually pulled to a tie with the Hornets with 16:14 remaining. Junior LeRoger Parrish (Danville, Va./Tunstall) had 11 points in the half including the go ahead trey with 15:50 on the clock.

EMU continued to pour on the offense as the Royals used their team speed to their advantage. In the second half EMU scored 54 points as compared to 38 in the first half and out rebounded Lynchburg 21-12.

Freshman DaSean Webster (Virginia Beach, Va./Tallwood) had 10 points off the bench for EMU while senior center Corey Bailey (Centreville, Va./Brentsville District) led the Royals with eight rebounds and three blocked shots.

EMU will now travel to Hampden-Sydney as the Royals take on the Tigers on Sunday, January 13, at 3 p.m.