SALEM, VA—The Roanoke College men's basketball team advanced to its second consecutive Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship with an 89-77 win over Bridgewater College in the semifinal round on Sunday. The Maroons who improve to 21-5 on the season, will next take on Hampden-Sydney College at 7:00pm on Monday evening for the ODAC championship in Salem. The Maroons are looking for the first back-to-back ODAC titles since the 1987 and 1988 titles.
Sophomore guard Robby Pridgen (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) was the key to the Roanoke victory on Sunday, scoring a career-high 28 points. Pridgen, who was a Second Team All-ODAC selection this season, was 8-of-12 from the field and knocked down four three-pointers. For the second consecutive outing, senior Jason Strickland (Charlottesville, VA/Covenant) scored a season-high 23 points.
Strickland hit six of his 10 shots from the floor and also added one steal, the 171st of his career which ties him for fourth on RC's all-time chart. Roanoke natives Brad Dunleavy (William Fleming) and Colby Leftwich (Patrick Henry) each scored 13 for RC, with Leftwich adding a game-high 13 rebounds.
Roanoke took a slim two-point lead after the first 20 minutes of play, and extended that to as much as six in the early portions of the second half. Several times the Eagles fought back to tie the score only to see Roanoke regain the lead. The score was tied a total of 10 times in the contest. With 4:44 to go, the Eagles took their first lead since late in the first half.
Trailing 71-70 with 4:44 to go, the Maroons recaptured the lead on a three-pointer by Pridgen. Bridgewater came back to tie the score two minutes later, but the Maroons closed out the game on a 14-2 run to ice the win. Pridgen scored 10 of his 28 points in the final 4:35 of the game.
After falling behind 7-4 three minutes into the contest, Roanoke outscored Bridgewater 12-0 to gain a 16-7 lead. The nine-point lead was the largest either team could take until the Maroons made free throws down the stretch to push the gap out to 12.
The Maroons had their best free throw shooting night of the season, hitting 33 of their 36 attempts for a percentage of 91.7. The Maroons also turned the ball over just 11 times in the contest and held a sizable 39-26 advantage on the boards.
Monday the Maroons and the Tigers of Hampden-Sydney College meet for the ODAC championship. The Maroons won the 2000 championships with a 69-63 win over the Tigers, knocking HSC from the ranks of the unbeatens. The Maroons and Tigers split this season's series, with each team winning at home.
