SALEM, VA--Roanoke College senior Robby Pridgen (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) scored a game-high 31 points to lead the Roanoke College men's basketball team to a 90-76 home win over Emory & Henry College on Friday evening. The Maroons improve to 3-2 on the season and 1-0 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, while the Wasps fall to 3-3 overall, 0-1 in league play. The Maroons have now won eight consecutive games in this series.
Roanoke trailed by two points, 35-33, at the break after shooting just 36.4 percent from the field in the first half, just 1-of-8 from three-point range. The Maroons had just one lead in the first half, that at 22-21 with 6:26 to play in the opening 20 minutes of play. The Maroons fell behind again, but tied the score at 33 with 23 seconds to play, that on a layup Bryan Fasnacht (Salem, VA/Glenvar). Former Maroon Paul Russo, who transferred out following his freshman season, gave the Wasps the two-point lead on a layup with five ticks left.
In the first five minutes of the second half, the Maroons went on a 15-10 run to take a three-point lead, a lead they would not give up. The 15th point of that run came on a Pridgen three-point shot, one of four for him in the contest. The Maroons led the rest of the way, getting out to an 11-point lead with 11:19 to go. The Wasps, however, did not go away and cut the lead to just one, 65-64, using a 13-3 stretch of their own. A free throw by Justin Call, who entered the game leading the league in scoring with a 27.0 per game average, cut that lead to one with 7:13 to go. The Maroon defense then took over, allowing just 12 E&H points the rest of the way. In that time, the Maroons took advantage of their free throws, hitting 13, including nine by Pridgen in the last 1:26 of the ball game.
Pridgen finished with the 31 points on 8-of-19 shooting and 11-for-12 from the free throw line. He also added three assists and a steal. Fasnacht finished with a career-high 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Senior center Nate Stewart (Christiansburg, VA/Auburn) grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds and also added nine points and a career-high four blocked shots.
Will Sloan and call finished with 16 points each to lead the Wasps, while guard Ben Fisher tallied 12. Russo finished with a game-high seven assists for the Wasps, who made just 8-of-23 three-pointers in the contest.
The Maroons are next in action on December 30-31st as they host the 10th Annual V-Foundation Classic in Salem. Maryville (TN), Mount Union (OH), and Transylvania (KY) will join RC in the tournament.
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