SALEM, VA--The Roanoke men's basketball held a seven-point lead over Randolph-Macon, the nation's number-one ranked team in Division III, but lost that lead and lost the game, 69-66, on Sunday afternoon in Salem, VA. The Maroons fall to 9-7 on the season and 4-5 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, while the Yellow Jackets improve to 14-2, 9-0 in the ODAC. The win gives the Yellow Jackets the sweep of the regular season series, their third in the past five seasons over the Maroons.
Leading 62-55 with just 3:59 to play in the game, the Maroons hit a cold streak, scoring just four points the rest of the way, while going just 2-for-6 in that stretch and turning the ball over twice. Meanwhile, Macon hit four of their six attempts from the field and scored its final five points from the free throw line.
Randolph-Macon jumped on the Maroons early, taking as much as a 10-point lead in the first half, but watched the Maroons storm back to take the lead with 2:03 to play in the first half. Roanoke's Josh Foster (Roanoke, VA/Roanoke Valley Christian) sparked a 15-4 run by the Maroons late in the first half, resulting in a 28-27 RC advantage. The Maroons were able to push their lead out to four points, 33-29, ending the half by outscoring the Yellow Jackets, 5-2, in the final 1:35.
Randolph-Macon was able to take three leads early in the second half, but the Maroons recaptured the advantage with 9:29 to play in the contest and held it until Ryan Stein hit a breakaway layup with 49 seconds left in the game, giving RMC the lead for good.
The Maroons fell despite hitting 50 percent of their shots in the contest. The team turned the ball over just 13 times in the game, but two came in the final three minutes, allowing the Yellow Jackets to come back from the seven-point hole.
The Yellow Jackets were hampered by poor free throw shooting all day long, going just 19-of-34 (.559) from the line. The team did hit six three pointers in the game and held a 37-28 advantage on the boards. Roanoke had a 16-13 rebounding edge at halftime.
Kurt Bergmann established a new career-high in the points column for the Yellow Jackets, scoring 20 points. He also had 10 rebounds. Jamal Brunt scored 14 for head coach Mike Rhoades, including seven in the final 3:36 of the game, Randolph-Macon's comeback stretch. His 14 points tied a personal-best.
Foster went into halftime with nine points and finished the ball game with a team-high 22 for the Maroons. He also added four assists. Freshman Kevinn Hunter came off the bench to score 10 points for the Maroons on 5-of-5 shooting. This was his third game in the past four in which he has been perfect from the field.
Roanoke doesn't get much of a rest, having to host the Virginia Wesleyan College Marlins at 7:00pm on Monday evening in Salem. Virginia Wesleyan won the first meeting of the season, 68-66, in Virginia Beach in December.
