SALEM, VA--Robby Pridgen (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary's) put together another MVP performance to lift the Roanoke men's basketball team to the championship of the V-Foundation Classic with a 66-54 win over the Bees of Savannah College of Art & Design. Pridgen, who was named the MVP of Roanoke's Tip-Off tournament earlier in the year, scored a career-high 30 points in the win on Thursday, 26 coming in the second half. In the consolation game, Eastern Connecticut State defeated Averett University, 87-54.
The two-day event raised $1,867 alone from a raffle and auction, money that will be split between the V-Foundation for Cancer Research and the American Cancer Society. Among the auctioned items was a pair of Vince Carter autographed game shoes that fetched $160. The money raised adds to the $50,000 the tournament had collected over the past eight seasons.
Trailing by 10 points at halftime, 32-22, the Maroons outscored Savannah A&D 44-22 in the second half to pull out the 12-point win. The win was Roanoke's third in four all-time meeting with the Bees, all of which have come over the past three seasons. After shooting just 27 percent from the field in the first half, the Maroons came back to fire 52 percent in the second half, while holding the Bees to just eight field goals.
The Maroons had a 7-5 lead with 14:16 to go in the first half, but the Bees went on a run and extended the lead to 10 points on a free throw by Wesley Adams with 1:23 to play in the first. The Bees held onto the lead for the early stages of the second half, but a made layup by junior Nathan Stewart (Christiansburg, VA/Auburn) with 12:36 to go in the game gave the Maroons the lead for good. The layup was part of a 14-0 RC run.
Pridgen completed the game 10-of-21 from the field for his career-high 30 points. The junior guard had just four points on 1-of-7 shooting at halftime. He made three three-pointers and added four rebounds and two assists. Jaimar Mansel (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary's) was also named to the All-Tournament team after scoring eight points, handing out four assists, recording four steals, and grabbing five rebounds on Thursday.
Paul Otim led the way for the Bees with 17 points and eight rebounds and was joined on the All-Tournament team by teammate Adam Thomason who had 11 points and 13 rebounds.
