ASHLAND, VA-A day after suffering a 22-point loss at Virginia Wesleyan, the Roanoke College men's basketball team saw it's losing streak hit two following a 70-66 loss to the Randolph-Macon College Yellow Jackets in Ashland, VA. The Maroons fall to 5-3 overall on the season and 1-2 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, while the Yellow Jackets, who are ranked eighth in the latest D3Hoops.com Division III national poll, improve to 10-0 and 4-0 in league action.
Roanoke went into halftime owning a 38-30 lead, but allowed the Yellow Jackets to score 12 of the first 16 points of the second half to tie the contest at 42 with 14:27 remaining on the clock. After the Maroons retook the lead moments later, with 12:08 to go, Randolph-Macon's Justin Wansley hit a free throw to give the host a 45-44 lead, it's first lead since a 7-5 advantage just over two minutes into the game. Again the Maroons fought back to recapture the lead, going ahead 60-57 on two consecutive free throws from junior center
Kevinn Hunter (Dale City, VA/Gar-Field) with 4:47 left. Two straight three-pointers by the Yellow Jackets put the Maroons behind 63-60 with 3:02 to go. After falling behind by four points, the Maroons drew even, 66-66, on a Hunter jumper with 48 seconds to play.
Randolph-Macon's Kurt Bergmann missed three-pointer with less than 30 seconds to play, but Wansley collected an offensive rebound, and got another following his own miss and was subsequently fouled by RC. The sophomore hit both his free shots to give RMC the lead for good, 68-66. Two more FTs iced the win for the defending ODAC champs.
In the first half, the Maroons held a 17-14 lead with 11:40 to go but went on a 9-2 run to push that advantage up to 10 points, 26-16, with 7:44 to go. An RMC three trimmed the lead to seven points, 28-21, with 6:45 showing on the clock, but four free throws and a
Bryan Fasnacht (Salem, VA/Glenvar) jumper gave RC their largest lead, 34-21.
NyJuan Hall (Alexandria, VA/Edison) made two free throws to push the lead to 13.
Second half rebounding was a key ingredient to Randolph-Macon's victory. The Yellow Jackets outrebounded the Maroons 22-17 in the second half, but much more importantly grabbed 12 second half offensive rebounds, eight coming from Wansley, who was the 2003 ODAC Rookie of the Year.
Jared Butler (Springfield, VA/West Springfield) led all Maroons with 18 points, 12 coming from shots behind the three-point line. Fasnacht finished the contest with 17 points and four assists, while Hunter tallied 15 points and eight rebounds. Hall came off the bench to give the Maroons eight points and three rebounds in 17 minutes of work. Wansley tied a career-high with 25 points in the RMC win and also had a career-best 17 rebounds.
The Maroons take two days off before returning to action in the 11th Annual V-Foundation Classic in Salem, VA. The tournament, from which all proceeds go to the V-Foundation and the American Cancer Society, begins at 5:00pm on Wednesday with SUNY New Paltz taking on Ferrum College. The Maroons will then play St. Joseph's (ME) College at 7:00pm. The tournament will then continue on Thursday with games at 5:00 and 7:00 as well.
Roanoke vs. Randolph-Macon Box Score
