LYNCHBURG, VA--The Roanoke College men's basketball team trailed the Hornets of Lynchburg College 35-34 at halftime, but outscored its host 42-27 in the second half to take home a 76-62 victory on Sunday afternoon in Lynchburg, VA. The Maroons, who snap a two-game losing streak to the Hornets, improve to 9-6 overall on the season and 3-5 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Lynchburg falls to 8-8 overall, 5-4 in league play. Sunday's game was the final in a three-game road swing for the Maroons, who went 2-1 on the trip. The Maroons will play 10 of their final 13 games at home.
Trailing by one at the break, the Maroons fell behind by as many as four points in the second half. After a couple of lead changes just minutes into the second half, the Maroons fell behind for the final time, 47-44, on an Aaron Smith field goal with 12:40 to play in the game The Maroons answered back on a three-point field goal from senior Robbie Winfield (Athens, TN/McMinn Co.) just 25 seconds later. After a missed Lynchburg field goal,
Mike Zurek (Palm Beach Gardens, FL/Suncoast) converted two free throws to give the Maroons a 49-47 lead. The Hornets drew even, but that tie did not last long. Zurek made a reverse layup with 10:21 left on the clock to give RC the lead for good.
Zurek's layup sparked a 6-0 Maroon run, a run that saw Winfield hit a jumper and
Kevinn Hunter (Dale City, VA/Gar-Field) make one of his two field goals to make the score 55-49 in Roanoke's favor. Roanoke's lead hovered around four points for the next four minutes, until Zurek hit another layup and
Tee Jackson (Galax, VA/Carroll Co.) two free throws to give Roanoke an eight-point edge, 62-54. Moments later Jackson made a three to give Roanoke a nine-point advantage. Lynchburg was able to cut the lead to six points on a Matt Sweeney field goal, but an untimely bench technical foul gave the Maroons the chance to make the gap eight again, which Jackson did. Seven free throws down the stretch pushed the Maroon lead out to 14 points.
The Maroons shot 52.4 percent from the field in the game, making 22-of-42, marking just the second time this season they have made over 50 percent of their shots. Hunter, the team's leading scorer, was held to just seven points (although he did have nine rebounds), but Winfield chipped in a career-best 10 points, while Jackson's 17 also marked a career-best.
Jared Butler (Springfield, VA/West Springfield) scored in double-figures for the 10th consecutive game, dropping in 13.
Josh LaPorte (Staunton, VA/Riverheads) tied a career-high with 10 points and also added four assists and three steals. The Maroons outscored Lynchburg 26-8 from the free throw line.
The Hornets did not have a player score in double figures, being led in the scoring column by Smith who had nine points. The Hornets did win the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Maroons 35-28. The Hornets had 16 offensive rebounds.
The Maroons are off for a week before returning to action on Saturday against the Yellow Jackets of Randolph-Macon College in Salem, VA. That game begins at 2:00pm, as does Roanoke's game against Virginia Wesleyan at home on Sunday.
Roanoke vs. Lynchburg Box Score
