BRIDGEWATER, VA-- It's not often that a career-high 35 points is overshadowed, but for Roanoke men's basketball star Robby Pridgen (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) that's exactly what happened Wednesday night. Pridgen led the Maroons to a 107-99 victory at Bridgewater College, but saw his career scoring night lost in Bridgewater's Kyle Williford's Old Dominion Athletic Conference record 56-point night. Williford, who broke the old record of 47, saw his Eagles fall to the Maroons 107-99 in overtime. Roanoke improves to 9-6 on the season and 4-4 in ODAC play. Bridgewater, which has lost six consecutive games to the Maroons, drop to 11-5, 5-4 on the year.
The Maroons led by 13 points, 44-31, at the half, and led for almost every second of the second half, but a Brett Childers three-pointer with just two seconds left tied the score at 86 and sent the game into extra minutes. In the extra frame, Bridgewater took a 97-96 lead with 1:22 to go on another Childers three, but Jaimar Mansel converted a four-point play on the other end to give the Maroons the lead they would not give up. The four-point play was Roanoke's second of the contest, the first coming by Josh Foster in the first half.
Pridgen finished the game with 35 points for the Maroons, while Mansel added 15. Josh Foster and Jason Graffam each scored 13 for RC.
Williford finished his record setting night with 56 points on 18-of-29 field goal shooting, including 6-for-10 from three-point land. He was also a perfect 14-of-14 from the free throw line and threw in 11 boards to the Eagle effort. The previous ODAC record for points in a game was 47, reached three times, the last by Randolph-Macon Kurt Axe in 1996.
Roanoke hosts Randolph-Macon on Saturday afternoon at 3:00pm in Salem. The Yellow Jackets come into the contest ranked number-one in Division III.
