SALEM, VA--Coming off of a loss at Washington & Lee on Sunday and trailing 36-34 at the half on Wednesday, the Roanoke College men's basketball team rebounded to beat Bridgewater College, 69-58, in Old Dominion Athletic Conference action. The Maroons outscored the Eagles 35-22 in the second half an in the process improved to 11-9 overall and 5-8 in the ODAC. The Eagles, who entered the contest as the nation's seventh ranked squad in field goal percentage, made just 36 percent of their shots and fell to 12-8 overall and 6-7 in league play.

Trailing by eight points, 51-43, with 10:15 to play in the contest, the Maroons went on a 20-3 run to take a commanding 63-54 lead with just 2:43 left on the clock. The Maroon defense limited the Eagles to just one field goal in that time, taking advantage of Bridgewater's leading scorer's, Ricky Easterling, foul trouble. Easterling had to sit midway through the second half after picking up his fourth personal foul.

Roanoke sophomore Jamiel Allen (Richmond, VA/The Steward School) was the spark to that run. The guard drained a three-pointer to start the run, then added two free throws and another three over the next two minutes to bring the Maroons to within one point, 52-51. After fellow sophomore Mike Zurek (Palm Beach Gardens, FL/Suncoast) tied the score at 52 with a free throw, junior center Kevinn Hunter (Dale City, VA/Gar-Field) gave the Maroons the lead for good with a spinning layup. Zurek then pushed the lead to four points with a wide open driving layup. The Eagles cut the lead in half, on a second chance layup from Nick Stewart, the younger brother of former Maroon Nate Stewart. It was again Hunter that the Maroons looked to for points, and he didn't fail them, scoring the next three to give the hosts a five-point, 59-54, cushion. Hunter and sophomore guard Jared Butler (Springfield, VA/West Springfield) ended the run with points in the paint.

The Eagles, which entered the game shooting over 51 percent from the field for the season, went just 8-for-30 from the floor during the second half of Wednesday's game. After a hot start which saw the visitors shoot 46 percent from the floor in the first half, the Eagles finished by making just 21 of 58 tries from the floor (36.2). Easterling scored 15 points in the first half, hitting his first five shots of the contest, but the Maroon defense, led by Drew Crowder (Radford, VA/Radford), held the senior to just five second half points.

Jason Graffam (Vienna, VA/Marshall) was Roanoke's lone offensive bright spot in the first half, scoring 11 of his team high 20 points during the opening 20 minutes. The senior also grabbed a game-best 13 rebounds to record his third double-double of the season. Hunter and Butler each finished with 13 points, while Allen scored all eight of his points to start off the decisive second half run. Zurek finished with five points in just eight minutes.

The Maroons are back in action on Saturday in a road game at Lynchburg College. The Maroons will be out to avenge a loss to the Hornets in Salem in January. The Maroons will then travel to Hampden-Sydney College on Monday night in a 7:00pm contest.

Roanoke vs. Bridgewater Box Scores