SALEM, VA--The Roanoke College and Maryville College men's basketball teams will meet on Tuesday for the championship of the 10th Annual V Foundation Classic hosted by Roanoke College in Salem, VA. The Maroons defeated Transylvania (KY), 101-88, on Monday, while the Scots upended Mount Union, 72-60, on Monday as well. The championship game will be played at 4:00pm in the C. Homer Bast Center on Tuesday, with the consolation game preceding at 2:00pm. The Maroons and Scots have already met once this season, with Maryville taking a 95-67 win in Tennessee on December 1st.
Roanoke 101, Transylvania 88
Robby Pridgen scored 25 points and Josh Foster added 21 as the Maroons broke the 100-point mark for the first time this season to improve to 4-2 on the season. The Maroons shot 59.7 percent (37-for-62) from the field in the contest and outscored the Pioneers 20-9 from the free throw line.
The Maroons took as much as a 13-point lead in the first half and led at the break, 50-39. The Pioneers had chipped RC's large lead to as little as six points late in the second, but the Maroons scored the final five points of the frame, three coming on a three-pointer by Drew Crowder. The Maroons were able to push the lead back to 13 early in the second, but the Pioneers got within four points several times midway through the half. The Pioneers hit four of their 11 three-pointers in the early stages of the second half, two coming from Nathan Valentine, to chip away at the lead. The Maroons, however, made 12 free throws in the final 4:45 of the game to ice the contest. The Maroons are now 85-3 all-time when they score at least 100 points.
Jimmy Kosieniak scored 15 points for the Pioneers, who also got 16 from Derek Springate and went 11-for-32 from three-point range in the contest. The Pioneers shot 47.9 percent overall, but let the Maroons make almost 60 percent of their tries. Heath Puckett and Nate Stewart each had eight rebounds for the Maroons, Puckett getting five on the offensive glass.
Maryville 72, Mount Union 60
Senior Ben Robison scored a game-high 17 points and added seven rebounds to lift the Scots of Maryville College to the 72-60 win over Mount Union College in the first game of the V Foundation Classic. Robison made three three-pointers in the win, which gave the Scots a 6-2 overall record and their fourth consecutive win. The Purple Raiders fall to 7-2 on the season, but have now lost two of their past three contests.
The Scots held a 49-29 halftime lead, that after shooting 66.7 (18-for-27) from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play. While shooting the lights out from the field, the Scots forced 13 Mount Union turnovers and held the Raiders to just 10 first half field goals. Robison scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half and helped spark a 22-6 run over the final 7:03 of the first half. Fellow senior Josh Tummel had 10 of his 13 points in the first half. Tummel also finished with seven rebounds, three blocks, and four steals.
The Purple Raiders could cut the Scot lead to no less than 10 points in the second half, of play. That came with 6:06 to play in the contest, when the Ohio squad cut the lead to 58-48. From there, Mount Union scored 11 points and eventually lost by the 12-point margin. Aaron Brownsword led the Purple Raiders with 17 points.
