SALEM, VA--The visiting Virginia Wesleyan College Marlins defeated the Roanoke College men's basketball team, 92-77, in Old Dominion Athletic Conference action on Saturday afternoon. The Marlins improve to 3-2 on the season, 1-1 league play, while the Maroons, the nation's 15th ranked team, fall to 4-2, 1-1 in ODAC play.
Senior center Ron Yuhasz (Dover, DE/Ceaser Rodney) scored a game-high 30 points to lead the Marlins to the win. Yuhasz went 12-for-19 from the field and also grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds. Guard Frankie Cabrera (Virginia Beach, VA/Cape Henry) added 27 points for the Marlins. Cabrera hit four three-pointers in the contest and added four assists.
The Marlins jumped out to a six point halftime lead after shooting 56.7 percent from the field in the opening stanza. Meanwhile, the Maroons shot just 38.5 percent from the field in the first half. In the first six-plus minutes of the game, the lead changed hands several times, but a Yuhasz jumper with 13:56 gave the Marlins a 14-12 lead, a lead they would never lose. Virginia Wesleyan pushed the lead to as many as 11 points in the first half before taking a six point lead (43-37) into the break.
In the second half, the Maroons got within two points with 9:32 left in the game after going on a 6-0 run over a 1:15 span. The Marlins did not break, however, and outscored the Maroons 28-15 in the final 9:32 of the contest and won by the final 15-point margin.
The Maroons had four players reach double-figures in the scoring column, led by Jason Strickland's (Charlottesville, VA/Covenant) 22. Colby Leftwich (Roanoke, VA/Patrick Henry) had an outstanding all-around performance, scoring 20 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, and recording five steals. The Maroons played most of the game without starting guard Brad Dunleavy (Roanoke, VA/William Fleming) who injured an ankle three minutes into the contest.
The Maroons return to action on Monday as they host the Yellow Jackets of Randolph-Macon College in a 7:00pm contest in RC's Bast Center. The game will be the last in the 2000 calendar year for the Maroons.
