The Eastern Mennonite University men's basketball team can boast that they are only one of a handful of teams that have kept Emory & Henry in double figures but the Royals were unable to get that last second half bucket they needed as the Wasps held on for a 96-93 win.

The loss drops the Royals to 8-14 overall and 4-11 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference with Emory & Henry improving to 7-16 on the year and 3-13 in the conference.

Senior center Corey Bailey (Centreville, Va./Brentsville District) had a career day as he recorded 14 points, 18 rebounds, and six blocks, all new personal records, with senior forward Brad Parkes (Winchester, Va./James Wood) leading the squad with 23 points on 10-of-17 from the floor.

The Royals shot 43 percent (16-of-37) from the floor in the first half as the Royals got two free throws from sophomore guard Austin Twine (Dublin, Va./Pulaski Co.) and a bucket from Parkes to head into the locker room tied at 42. Emory & Henry shot 39 percent from the floor in the first half (17-of-43) with the two teams going through four lead changes in the first stanza.

EMU pulled ahead by two late in the second half as the Royals were able to gain the lead on a trey by freshman guard George Johnson (Richmond, Va./Miller School) with 1:42 on the clock (93-92). Emory and Henry tied the game on a free throw by Andrew Hart in the Wasps next possession with the visiting Royals turning the ball back over the the home team with only 30 seconds remaining. Hart got the pass from JD Dyson and dropped in a three pointer to ice the win for Emory & Henry.

The Royals turned the ball over 32 times in the game with Emory & Henry recording only 19 turnovers. Twine had 11 points for EMU with junior LeRoger Parrish (Danville, Va./Tunstall) adding 10 points and four assists. Freshman wing Todd Phillips (Waynesboro, Va./Waynesboro) had nine points, seven rebounds, and two steals off the bench for the Royals.

"We did some things well but made some costly rookie mistakes towards the end of the game," explained EMU head coach Kirby Dean. "We had that two point lead in the first half but fouls and turnovers really hurt us."

Josh Lee and Camillo Wienz each scored a team high 16 points for Emory & Henry with Dyson adding 14 points and a team high seven assists.

The Royals will compete in their final road game of the regular season as EMU clashes with Guilford College on Sunday, February 17, at 2 p.m., in Greensboro, N.C.