BRIDGEWATER, VA --- The EMU basketball men shot 58% and outscored Virginia Intermont 48-22 in the second half Friday night, running away with an 85-56 win to open play at the Don Glick Classic hosted by Bridgewater College.  The Royals improve to 5-3 with the decision as they prepare for North Central (Ill.) on the final day of the Classic.

Game time with the Cardinals, who went to the Final Four of the National Tournament last year, is at 2:00pm on Saturday.  Fans can donate a canned food item to gain free admission to the Classic.

Friday's opener against Virginia Intermont had a lackluster start as neither team led by more than four points in a back-and-forth first half.  Eastern Mennonite was up 37-34 at halftime.

Just over four minutes into the second, the lead was still small at 45-39, before the Royals finally got the tempo to their liking.  In the span of 2:26, the men unleashed an 11-0 run to suddenly inflate a 56-39 cushion.

The Cobras were able to steady the ship and get the deficit down to 13 points on a couple of occasions, but another 10-0 run, made up entirely of layups, shot Eastern Mennonite to a 74-51 cushion with 6:18 to play.  Virginia Intermont couldn't recover from that as EMU strolled out with the win.

The Royals enjoyed a shooting advantage of 51% to 31%, which made the difference in the game.  They also had a 49-39 edge in rebounding to go with eight blocked shots.

David Falk (Madison, Va./Madison) notched his fifth double double of the year with 20 points and 15 rebounds.  He connected on 9-of-12 shots and also blocked three attempts on the defensive end.  RJ Sims (Fort Washington, Md./Friendly) was EMU's main outside threat, as he was 4-6 from three point range and finished with 16 points and a couple of steals.  Marcel Crump (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) added 15 points and seven rebounds.

Woody Furbush (Bridgeton, N.J./Salem) pulled down five rebounds in limited minutes.  Kendall Hawkins (Charlottesville, Va./Albemarle) set a career high with his nine points off the bench, and Trey Barrett (Damascus, Md./Damascus) had two blocked shots.

EMU held Virginia Intermont's star, Joshua Hart, to 14 points on 6-for-20 shooting.  Hart entered the game averaging 25.7 points an outing.