SALEM, VA--The Roanoke College men's basketball team continued its recent success against Washington & Lee University, beating the Generals for the 14th consecutive time, this a 75-61 win on Saturday in Salem. The Maroons are now 13-5 on the season and 8-4 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Washington & Lee falls to 3-15 on the year and 3-10 against conference competition. The Maroons now own a 61-33 lead in the all-time series against the Generals.
Washington & Lee jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on the Maroons and then took as much as an eight point lead (10-2), that with 16:46 remaining in the first half. The Maroons responded quickly, however, tying the game 2:46 later and taking the lead for good with 11:41 left in the opening frame. The Generals were within single-digits of the Maroons for much of the first half, until Mikal Townsend (South Boston, VA/Halifax County) drained a three with 3:20 to go to give RC a 10-point lead. The Maroons used a 13-0 run late in the half to push the their lead from seven to 18. Going into the break, RC held a 40-22 lead.
Roanoke came out in the second half and pushed the lead to as much as 22 points, but watched the Generals slowly creep back to within nine with 8:11 to go. The Maroons, however, converted their free throws down the stretch and did not allow W&L to within 10 again. Roanoke scored 12 of its final 21 points from the free throw line, with six of those coming off the stroke of senior Colby Leftwich (Roanoke, VA/Patrick Henry).
Leftwich led all scorers in the game, finishing with 16 , eight coming from the free throw line. Leftwich also had eight rebounds to lead all Maroon players. Robby Pridgen (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) scored 14 in the winning effort, while Townsend finished the contest with nine points, six on threes. Brad Dunleavy (Roanoke, VA/William Fleming) tallied 13. The Maroons shot a blistering 56.5 percent (26-of-46) from the field in the contest and turned the ball over just 14 times. Roanoke also had five blocks in the win.
The Generals were led by three players with 12 points each. Scott Hetterman (Falls Church, VA/Landon School), Will Ballard (Elkin, NC/Elkin), and Chad Braley (Huntington, WV/Paul Blazer) all chipped in 12 to the W&L effort. Ballard sparked the General 7-0 run to start the contest, scoring five of the points. W&L had a solid night from the floor (46.8 percent), but was hurt by 20 turnovers and just 62.5 percent free throw shooting.
The Maroons return to action on Wednesday as they travel to Bridgewater College for a 7:00pm contest against the Eagles. The Maroons defeated BC last week, 73-62 in Salem.
