SALEM, VA--The Roanoke College men's basketball team rebounded from a three-point loss to the nation's top ranked team on Sunday with a 74-62 win over Virginia Wesleyan College on Monday night in Salem, VA. The Maroons improve to 10-7 on the season and even their Old Dominion Athletic Conference record at 5-5. The Marlins, who had defeated RC 68-66 in December, fall to 9-8 on the year, 7-4 in the ODAC. Roanoke's win was just its third in the past 11 meetings with VWC and 23rd in the all-time series.
Virginia Wesleyan's inability to put the ball in the basket was the deciding factor in the contest. The Marlins shot just 34.3 percent (23-of-67) from the field in the game, including a 27.0 mark in the first half. The Marlins dominated the Maroons on the glass, holding a sizable 48-29 advantage in the rebounding column. Of those 48 rebounds for VWC, 24 came on the offensive end of the floor, leading to many second chance points. The Marlins got off 10 more shots than the Maroons.
After getting out to a 10-4 lead early in the ball game, the Maroons fell behind by as many as five points in the first half. The Marlins then went cold and yielded a 19-2 run to the Maroons and trailed by 12 points with 4:43 to go in the first. The Marlins were able to trim RC's lead to seven at the break, 32-25. Bryan Fasnacht (Salem, VA/Glenvar) scored five points during the run which was capped by an Andrew Crowder (Radford, VA/Radford) three-pointer.
The Maroons pushed the lead to as many as 15 points in the second, but the Marlins fought back to within seven several times over the final 20 minutes but could get no closer. The Maroons hit nine of 10 free throw attempts in the final 2:25 to hold the Marlins at bay.
Roanoke's Robby Pridgen (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) led all scorers with 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field. Nathan Stewart (Christiansburg, VA/Auburn) set a new career-best with 14 points in the contest. He also added five rebounds and a career-high four blocked shots. Josh Foster (Roanoke, VA/Roanoke Valley Christian) also hit double-figures with 12.
Josh Fisher led all Marlins with 16 points in the game, while James Wallace added 11. Wallace was just 3-for-14 from three-point land and as a team the Marlins made just eight of their 26 tries from beyond the arc.
The Maroons return to action on Wednesday as they host Eastern Mennonite in a 7:00pm contest in Salem.
