SALEM, VA--The Randolph-Macon College Yellow Jackets shot 79 percent from the floor in the second half and 62 percent for the game in handing the home standing Roanoke College men's basketball team a 77-65 loss on Saturday afternoon in Salem, VA. The Yellow Jackets improve to 9-7 on the season and 7-3 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference while the Maroons are now 9-7 overall and 3-6 in league play. Randolph-Macon extends it winning streak to nine games over the Maroons.
Randolph-Macon jumped out to a quick 16-5 lead in the first eight minutes of the game, scoring nine of those 16 points from behind the three-point line. Trailing 18-7 with 11:44 left in the first half of play, the Maroons used a 7-0 run, sparked by a
Tee Jackson (Galax, VA/Carroll Co.) three-pointer, to trim the Yellow Jacket lead to just four, 18-14. Using three more makes from three-point land, the Yellow Jackets extended their lead back to 11 points, 31-20, with 5:58 to play in the opening 20 minutes.
The Maroons trailed by 11 with 4:54 left, but closed the half on an 8-3 run to make the RMC margin 36-30 at the break. Randolph-Macon's lone field goal in the final 4:54 was another three-pointer, this one from Justin Wansley. In all, the Yellow Jackets made seven three-pointers in the first half of play, making six of their first nine attempts.
The Yellow Jackets continued their torrid shooting in the second half, only moving those shots inside the three-point arc. The Yellow Jackets missed just four shots from the field in the second half of play, making 15 of their 19 attempts. They also made all 10 of their free throw shots.
Jared Butler (Springfield, VA/West Springfield) and
Josh LaPorte (Staunton, VA/Riverheads) each made two three for the Maroons in the second half, but every time Roanoke made a run, the Yellow Jackets answered back with another field goal. The Maroons got to within two points once, 38-36, and three points twice, the second time at 49-46, but that would be as close as they could get.
A five-point game with 6:14 left got blown open in the late stages of the game when the Yellow Jackets went 8-for-8 from the free throw line over the final 3:08 of the contest and pushed their lead back out to as made as 13 points.
Wansley finished the game with 17 points for the Yellow Jackets, who also got 14 points from both Adam Krovic and Justin Moyer. Moyer also finished the day with six assists, while the team finished with assists on 19 of their 28 field goals. Wansley also led all players with eight rebounds.
Jared Butler recorded 16 points for the Maroons, his six consecutive game reaching double figures in the scoring column.
Ben Lawler (Abingdon, VA/Abingdon) came off the bench to score a career-high 10 points for the Maroons. Lawler played a majority of Roanoke's minutes at the pivot position after leading scorer
Kevinn Hunter went out of the game after hitting his head on the floor.
The Maroons are back in action on Sunday in a home game against the Marlins of Virginia Wesleyan College. The Maroons and Marlins will get their game underway at 2:00 in Roanoke's C. Homer Bast Center.
Roanoke vs. Randolph-Macon Box Score
