SALEM, VA--The Roanoke College men's basketball team blew a 15-point second half lead but pulled out a 72-69 victory over Farmingdale (NY) State on Saturday evening in Salem, VA. The game was Roanoke's 2004-05 season-opener. The Maroons will next play Goucher College at 3:00pm on Sunday afternoon in Salem in the championship game of the Salem Bank & Trust Tip-Off tournament. Goucher defeated Kenyon College 73-66 in the first game of the tournament.
Early in the second half, the Maroons went up 15 points on the Rams, that on a
Mike Zurek layup to give the home squad a 51-36 lead. The Rams slowly chipped away at the Maroons' lead and with a free throw with 8:30 to play tied the game at 60. The Maroons again built a small cushion, this time a five-point advantage, 69-64, on two
Jared Butler (Springfield, VA/West Springfield) free throws. Again, however, the Maroons allowed the Rams to close the gap, letting the visitors come, twice, to within one point. Butler iced the game late with a free throw that gave RC a three-point lead, 72-69, with just two seconds left.
The Maroons only allowed the Rams to make their comeback in the second half by shooting just 44 percent from the free throw line over the final 20 minutes of play. The Maroons made just 11 of their 25 free throw attempts in the second half and just 50 percent (20-of-40) for the game. At the same time, the Rams didn't help themselves at the line, going just 15-of-28 (53.6 percent).
In the early stages of the game both teams took small leads, but the Maroons took initial control about eight minutes into the half, using a 9-1 run to take a 20-12 lead.
Clint Zimmerman (Morganton, NC/Freedom) hit a three-pointer in the run and
Kevinn Hunter (Dale City, VA/Gar-Field) scored four of his 14 points.
Tee Jackson (Galax, VA/Carroll County) was also a first half spark, finishing the 20 minutes with 11 points and two three-pointers.
The Maroons owned a 12-point lead late in the first half, but Farmingdale State's Jimmy Williams hit a halfcourt buzzer-beater to cut the lead to nine, 42-33 at the half.
Jackson finished the game with a career-high 15 points for the Maroons, while last season's leading scorer Butler finished with just five points, all coming on free throws. Freshman
Keith Carter (Roanoke, VA/Northside) ended the day with eight points, four assists, and three rebounds. Classmate
Josh LaPorte (Staunton, VA/Riverheads) had six points, four rebounds, four blocks, and four steals.
The Rams were led by Kenny McMillian who had 22 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. He ended the contest with eight offensive rebounds, seven coming in the second half. The Rams totaled 18 offensive rebounds in the second half alone and 21 for the game. Brandon Nieves was the only other Farmingdale player to reach double-figures, finishing with 12 points.
The first game of the day a featured similar second half comeback, with Kenyon rebounding from a 20-point second half deficit to cut the Goucher lead to as few as three points late in the game. Goucher owned a 62-42 lead with 13:32 to play in the game, but sparked by the play of Matt Formato and a 24-7 run, the Lords cut the lead to three, 69-66, with 1:22 left in the game. Formato had nine points in the run, while Andrew Good had six points. Formato led all scorers with 23 points.
Goucher's Garrett Smith led the Gophers with 22 points and also grabbed 11 rebounds. Jonathan Garritt scored seven points and led all players with 12 rebounds. The Gophers had a 49-30 edge on the glass.
Roanoke vs. Farmingdale State Box Score
Goucher vs. Kenyon Box Score
