SALEM, VA--The Roanoke College men's basketball team dug itself a 19-point first half lead, made a furious second half comeback, but fell three points shy, falling to visiting Emory & Henry College, 79-76, on Wednesday afternoon in Salem, VA. The Maroons fall to 11-12 on the season, dipping below .500 for the first time since early last season, and 5-11 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference action. Emory & Henry improves to 14-9 overall, 9-7 in the ODAC.
The Wasps put the Maroons in a tough situation just two minutes into the game, scoring the first 10 points. The Maroons did, however, battle back to within one point with a 9-0 run of their own. From there, however, the lack of Maroon defense allowed the Wasps to use a 14-2 run to open up a 24-11 advantage.
The lead would get out to 16 points on a Justin call jumper, but later Roanoke's Kevinn Hunter scored back-to-back layups to trim the lead to 11, 34-23. Two Call three-pointers and a Korey Townsend layup drove the E&H lead up to a game-high 19 points, 44-25, with 1:45 to play in the first half. The Maroons capped the half of streaks with an 8-0 run, sparked by a Jared Butler three to make the score 44-33 at the break.
A Jason Graffam three-point play and a Drew Crowder three-pointer to open the second half brought the Maroons to within five, 44-39. The streaks continued, this time with E&H putting together a 7-0 run to open the lead to 12. The Maroons slowly whittled away that lead and with 9:47 to play took a one-point lead on another Hunter layup. The lead would change hands seven times over the course of the rest of the game while fans saw a tie score five times. With the Maroons up 74-73, E&H's Gary Kerns converted a three-point play to give the visitors the lead for good. Missed free throws and turnovers burned the Maroons late.
Call finished the game with 31 points, 22 of those coming in the first half, when he went 8-for-13 from the field and drained four three-pointers. Kerns and Brandon Stanley each added 12 points for the Wasps, who shot 51 percent in the first half and 37 in the second. Townsend scored eight points and dished out a game-high six assists in the winning effort.
The Maroons were paced by Butler's career-high 28 points. The sophomore went 7-for-18 from the field and 10-for-14 from the free throw line. Hunter was the only other Maroon in double-figures, tying his career-best with 24 points. The pair combined to score 68 percent of the team's points. Hunter also had five rebounds and two blocks and went 12-for-16 from the field.
The Maroons return to action on Saturday in a 2:00pm contest against the Quakers of Guilford College. The game will be part of a men's/women's double-header. Admission to the contest is free.
