Seniors Brad Parkes (Winchester, Va./James Wood), Jered Lyons (Takoma Park, Md./St. Johns at Prospect Hall), and Corey Bailey (Centreville, Va./Brentsville District) each left the Royals fans something to remember them by as the Eastern Mennonite University men's basketball team gained a win over Roanoke College, 71-68, Saturday afternoon as both teams head into the conference tournament next week.

The Royals end the 2007-08 regular season with a 9-16 record overall and a 5-13 mark in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference while Roanoke ends up with a 17-8 season overall and a 11-7 record in the conference. Both teams will now wait for the offical bracket to be released from the ODAC on Sunday to see who they will match up with in the tournament.

"This was a great momentum builder for us and helps us gain a lot of confidence, seeing as how Roanoke was one of the few teams that beat Guilford College if that is who we match up with in the first round," commented EMU head coach Kirby Dean. "Our seniors stepped up tonight in front of the home crowd and there was a stretch where we were moving the ball up and down the court the way I had invisioned when I first took this job five years ago. If we can keep up that intensity and ball movement we can do some things."

Parkes had a team leading 21 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double double this season while Lyons added another 13 points to the EMU attack. Bailey had four points, seven rebounds, and five blocked shots for EMU which lost to Roanoke College in the first round of the ODAC Tournament last year.

Josh LaPorte was the total package for the Maroons as he led the squad with 16 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots while Zach Milton had 12 points.

Both teams battled for the lead in the first 10 minutes of the game before the Royals were able to take an eventual six point lead thanks to a bucket from freshman wing Todd Phillips (Waynesboro, Va./Waynesboro). The lead eventually evaporated as the Maroons grabbed a one point lead on three different occasions as there was seven lead changes in the final five minutes with EMU pulling ahead by nine as sophomore guard Austin Twine (Dublin, Va./Pulaski Co.) hit a fall away jumper from just outside the charity stripe as time expired in the first half.

Freshman guard George Johnson (Richmond, Va./Miller School) had another 13 points for EMU while D.J. Hinson (Newport News, Va./Menchville) had seven points in the half and ended up with 11 points for the game.

The Royals shot ahead by 16 points in the second half with 11:26 on the clock and seemed on their way to a comfortable win over Roanoke. The Maroons had other ideas as LaPorte and company fought back and closed to only one point away from tying the game with less than five minutes remaining. After an EMU timeout, Milton gave the visiting Maroons their first lead of the second half with a layup with EMU quickly switching the advantage back in their favor with a bucket from Hinson. The freshman wing then raced down the court and was able to block a LaPorte attempt and give the ball back to EMU. The Royals held a slim four point advantage as time wound down with the Maroons unable to get the ball to bounce their way with EMU closing out the regular season on a high note.

Phillips finished with five points, seven rebounds, and four assists off the bench for EMU.

"Roanoke is a great team and is well coached. Getting this win tonight is a step in the right direction for us," added Dean.