Things have begun to click for the Eastern Mennonite University men's basketball team as the Royals are now riding a three game winning streak following a 69-57 win over Randolph College Wednesday night in Yoder Arena.

Randolph, which will become a member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference next season, falls to 6-12 overall while EMU improves to 7-12.

Freshman guard George Johnson (Richmond, Va./Miller School) led the team with 14 points while senior forward Brad Parkes (Winchester, Va./James Wood) had 13 points, six rebounds, and a career high six assists in the win.

Pete Hamilton led all scorers as the WildCat guard poured in 21 points while tallying three assists.

EMU controlled the entire first half with the Royals taking a 16 point lead midway through the frame. Freshman wing D.J. Hinson (Newport News, Va./Menchville) had 10 points in the half including a big trey with 6:20 on the clock to give EMU a 20 point cushion (30-10). The WildCats eventually chipped away at the deficit as time expired and headed into the locker room trailing by 13 (36-23).

Hamilton and Travis Ellis had eight points each for Randolph in the first half.

Randolph came out firing in the second half as the WildCats refused to let the game slip away as Brandon Harris and Aurimas Lekavicius each added a bucket to cut the Royal lead to nine (17:13 remaining). The deficit for Randolph went down to five points before the Royals were able to respond with a three pointer from senior guard Jered Lyons (Takoma Park, Md./St. Johns at Prospect Hall) that pushed the EMU lead back up to eight.

The visiting WildCats continued to hang around as EMU was unable to build a lead larger than eight points. Randolph fell only one point short of tying the game with just under 10 minutes remaining on a layup from Michael Creef, but EMU again responded in their next possession with a trey from Johnson. EMU held a nine point advantage over Randolph with 3:03 on the clock when the Royals were finally able to break free and expand their lead up to 14 as freshman Orie Pancione (Augusta, WVa./Hampshire), sophomore Austin Twine (Dublin, Va./Pulaski Co.), and Johnson hit key shots from the charity stripe to ice the win for the home team.

Senior center Corey Bailey (Centreville, Va./Brentsville District) had eight points, six rebounds, and two blocked shots for EMU with junior LeRoger Parrish (Danville, Va./Tunstall), Pancione, and Lyons each adding six points off the bench.

Ellis finished with 12 points for Randolph with Creef adding another eight for the WildCats.

Bridgewater College will be the next challenge for EMU as the Eagles invade Yoder Arena on Friday, February 9, for a 7 p.m. ODAC matchup.