SALEM, VA-The Roanoke College men's basketball team won its third games of the 2005 calendar year, the third a 70-59 victory over visiting Ferrum College on Thursday evening. The Maroons, who own a 10-2 all-time lead in the series with the Panthers improve to 6-5 on the season and pick up their third consecutive win. The Panthers fall to 3-9 on the year.
The Maroons took complete command of Thursday's game late in the first half when the Panthers were called for two technical fouls on the same play. With his team leading by seven points, 23-16, sophomore
Chad McComas (Ona, WV/Cabell Midland) stepped to the free throw line and made all four technical free throws to extend Roanoke's lead to 11 points, 27-16. The Panthers trimmed Roanoke's lead to under 10 points just four times in the remaining 24 minutes of action, once in the first half, three times with under 10 minutes to play in the game.
Ahead by 11 points at the break, the Maroons quickly pushed their lead out to 17 points in the second half. Senior
Kevinn Hunter (Dale City, VA/Gar-Field) scored six of the team's first eight points in the second half. Roanoke's lead would be 17, 43-26, with 14:39 left in the contest but would get no bigger.
Riding the hot shooting of freshman Kenny Johnson, the Panthers were able to cut the Roanoke advantage to eight points with just over eight minutes to play. The Maroons held a 14-point lead, 53-39, but Johnson hit back-to-back three-pointers to make the score 53-45. Behind eight consecutive points in the paint, four from Hunter and two each from
Josh LaPorte (Staunton, VA/Riverheads) and
Keith Carter (Roanoke, VA/Northside), the Maroons got the lead back up to 14. A
Jared Butler (Springfield, VA/West Springfield) three moments later gave RC a 15-point edge, but again Johnson had an answer. Scoring seven of his team's next nine points, the freshman brought Ferrum back to within seven points, 66-59, on another three-pointer, that with just 2:18 to play. The Maroon defense held the Panthers scoreless the rest of the way, however.
After starting the game just 3-for-8 from the field, Hunter rebounded to made seven of his final nine shots and finished the game with 23 points, just one of his career-best. Butler scored nine points in the second half of play, while McComas finished with a career-best seven points.
Johnson finished Thursday's game with 26 points, 24 coming in the second half. The freshman accounted for 62 percent of his team's scoring in the second half and 44 percent for the game. His Ferrum teammates combined to score just 15 of their own points in the second half. Rafael Holland was FC's next leading scorer with eight points.
The Maroons look for their first Old Dominion Athletic Conference win of the season this coming Saturday as they host the Generals of Washington & Lee University. Game time in Salem is 7:00pm.
Roanoke vs. Ferrum Box Score
