SALEM, VA--The Roanoke College men's basketball team moved over .500 for the first time since December 31st, when it was 4-3, with an 84-72 win over visiting Bridgewater College on Wednesday evening in Salem, VA. The Maroons improve to 8-7 with the victory and 5-3 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Bridgewater, which has lost 10 of the past 12 games against the Maroons, falls to 9-6 overall and 3-5 in league action. The win was also Roanoke's fourth in its past five contests.
The Maroons led at the break 42-30 after Robby Pridgen (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) hit a 10-foot jumper as time expired in the first half, giving the Maroons the 12-point lead. The 12-point gap was Roanoke's largest of the first half. After the Eagles took a 9-8 lead on a Ricky Easterling three-pointer with 15:10 to go in the half, the Maroons went on eight-point run, all eight coming off Pridgen's hands. He hit two consecutive three and then converted two free throws to give the Maroons a 16-9 lead. Back-to-back layup by Jeff Schwalm brought the Eagles to within six points, 29-23. The Maroons would then score six of the half's final eight points to take the lead into the break.
The Eagles cut the Maroons' lead to 10, 42-32, on a jumper by freshman Clay Michaels moments into the second half. Before they knew what hit them, however, the Eagles found themselves down by 19, 53-34. That was because the Maroons went on a 11-2 run, sparked by second-chance layups by Kevinn Hunter (Dale City, VA/Gar-Field). Pridgen got five more points and Nate Stewart (Christiansburg, VA/Auburn) made a layup and with 14:42 to play in the game, the Maroons had the large lead. Things got worse for the Eagles just about a minute later when Bryan Fasnacht (Salem, VA/Glenvar) and Drew Crowder (Radford, VA/Radford) hit back-to-back threes to make the score 59-36, a 23-point RC lead. The Maroons pushed that lead out to as many as 27 points before the Eagles trimmed it to just 12 with reserves on the court over the final four minutes of the contest.
As they have all season, the Maroons shot extremely well on their home court. The squad made an even 50 percent of their shots (34-for-68) in the game, and are making 48 percent of their shots at the Bast Center this season. Hunter finished the game with eight makes on 10 attempts, establishing a career-high with 16 points. He also tied a career-high with 10 rebounds and posted his first career double-double. Pridgen, who is now shooting 50 percent from the year, scored a game-high 22 points and also added five assists. Stewart added 10 points, hitting two three-pointers in the second half.
Sophomore Harry Moore led the Eagles with 14 points in the contest, most coming on slashing drives to the basket. Ashby Tarkington and Michael each had 10 for Bill Leatherman's club, which had 20 offensive rebounds over the 40 minutes of play. Tarkington made two of Bridgewater's five three-pointers in the loss.
The Maroons hit the road to play at Randolph-Macon on Saturday at 3:00pm and then play at Virginia Wesleyan at 3:00pm on Sunday afternoon. Randolph-Macon, the nation's fourth ranked team improved to 15-1 with a win over Lynchburg on Wednesday, while Virginia Wesleyan fell to 12-3 with a loss to #2 Hampden-Sydney on Wednesday.
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