SALEM, VA--The Roanoke College men's basketball team received a scare from the Royals of Eastern Mennonite University on Wednesday evening, but eventually prevailed in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference showdown, 87-75. The win moved Roanoke's record to 11-7 and 6-5 in ODAC action, while the Royals fall to 3-14, 1-9. Roanoke has now won 46 of the 55 all-time meetings in the series.
Despite shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half, the Maroons found themselves behind at the break 40-34. Roanoke turned the ball over 16 times in the first half and were outscored from the free throw line 17-4 in the first 20 minutes of play. Roanoke led 28-26 with 4:46 to play in the first, but the Royals went on a 10-0 run to take the lead, with eight of those 10 points coming from the foul line. In fact, EMU's final 12 points of the first half came via free throws. The Maroons were outscored 12-6 in the final 4:46 of the first and went into the half down six.
The EMU lead hovered around six for the first half of the second period, but a Robby Pridgen (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) layup with 14:43 to play in the contest gave the Maroons the lead for good. That layup was a part of a 16-4 Maroon run. The Maroons were able to take the lead and hold onto it mainly as a result of turning the ball over just three times in the second half. The RC lead extended to as many as 16 points late in the game.
Josh Foster (Roanoke, VA/Roanoke Valley Christian) led all scorers with 19 points for the Maroons. Foster hit six of his nine shots and was 3-for-4 from three-point range. He also added three assists and two steals. Jaimar Mansel (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) had four three-pointers for the Maroons, adding 16 points and also four assists and three steals. Freshman Kevinn Hunter (Dale City, VA/Gar-Field) scored a career-high 12 points in a reserve role, bettering his old high of 10 set just two games ago. The center also added seven rebounds.
EMU freshman EJ Arrington dropped in 17 points for head coach Tom Baker on 8-of-12 shooting. Michael Swartley finished with 13 points in the game, but got just three in the second half. Swartley was a problem for the Maroon post players all night, creating foul trouble for RC and going to the line 12 times.
The Maroons next hit the floor in Lexington, VA on Saturday evening as they are the guests of the Washington & Lee Generals in a 7:00pm contest. Roanoke defeated W&L 71-56 in the first meeting of the year.
