SALEM, VA--The Roanoke College men's basketball team upset the visiting Bridgewater College Eagles, 73-62, on Wednesday night in Old Dominion Athletic Conference action in Salem, VA. The Maroons, who have now won six of the past seven meeting with the Eagles, improve to 10-4 on the season and 5-3 in the conference. Bridgewater, which came into the contest as the nation's 10th ranked team in the D3Hoops Online national tally, falls to 13-2 on the year and 7-2 against league foes.
The Maroons held Bridgewater to just 23 first half points and jumped out to a 20-point intermission lead, 43-23, and held off the Eagles in the second half to take the win. In addition to their strong defensive effort in the first half, the Maroons also shot 59.3 percent from the field. Bridgewater cut the lead to as few as eight points in the second half, but an Alex Phillips (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) jumper with 7:28 to play gave the Maroons another double-digit lead, as it would stay the rest of the contest.
In the first half, the Maroons came out on fire, hitting five of their first seven shots. The lead changed hands several times, until Jason Graffam (Vienna, VA/Marshall) hit a free throw with 12:48 to go to give RC a 10-point cushion. The Maroons would not give up the lead the rest of the way. Roanoke's lead was eight with 5:24 left in the first half, but it closed out the frame on a 14-2 run to push the intermission lead to 20.
Brad Dunleavy's (Roanoke, VA/William Fleming) 15 points led all Maroon scorers, while Robby Pridgen (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) added 13 and Jaimar Mansel (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) a career-high 10 points. A balanced Roanoke offensive attack saw a total of 10 players make a dent on the scoreboard. Phillips finished the game with six points and three rebounds for RC.
The Eagles were led on the offensive end by Jermaine Reed (Richmond, VA/Lloyd C. Bird) who led all scorers with 22 points. Reed was 8-of-14 from the field and also added three rebounds. BC's Kyle Williford (Raleigh, NC/Leesville Road), who entered the game averaging 18.2 points and 9.2 rebounds, scored just six points and grabbed just five boards. Williford shot just 2-of-8 from the field in the contest but had four blocked shots. The Eagles had 17 turnovers in the game, 14 of which were forced by Roanoke steals.
The Maroons head to Ashland, VA on Saturday for a 3:00pm contest against Randolph-Macon and then travel to Virginia Beach, VA to play the Marlins of Virginia Wesleyan College at 3:00pm on Sunday.
