SALEM, VA--The Roanoke College Maroons and Guilford College Quakers each picked up season-opening men's basketball victories in the 14th Annual V-Foundation Classic hosted by Roanoke in Salem, VA. The Maroons squeezed past the University of the South (Sewanee) 83-81 with a basket in the final seconds, while Guilford rolled to a 101-77 win over Robert Morris-Springfield (IL). In predetermined matchups, Roanoke will host Robert Morris at 3:00pm Sunday, while Guilford will play Sewanee at 1:00pm.
Roanoke 83, Sewanee 81
Ahead by as many as 16 points in the game and 12 points in the second half, the Maroons waited until the final two seconds of the game to secure the win. Ahead by one point with 26 seconds left in the game, the Maroons got a free throw from AJ Dowell to go up by two, 81-79. The Tigers worked their way down the court, set up an offense, and got a layup from Spencer Rowland with just six seconds showing on the clock to even the score.
Roanoke quickly got the ball out of the net and in-bounded it to Keith Carter. Carter sprinted up the right side of the court and found Curtis Peery on the low block. Peery spun to the inside and put in the game-winning basket with just 1.6 seconds left in regulation. Following a Tiger timeout, the visitors were unable to move the ball up the court for a tying shot and the Maroons came away with the two-point win.
Roanoke led by as many as 16 points in the first half and 12 in the second. The Tigers slowly chipped away at that lead and took their first lead of the game since 3-2 with just 3:14 left, that a 76-75 advantage.
Peery's game-winning basket capped off a career night for the sophomore. The Salem, VA native finished with 20 points on 8-for-10 shooting. He missed a double-double by just one rebound. Ben Shrader was just behind with 19 points, 10 coming in the second half.
Guilford 101, Robert Morris (IL) 77
Ben Strong led four Quaker players in double-figures with 23 points, while also adding nine rebounds and three blocks, to lead the Quakers to the 24-point win. Jordan Snipes added 20 points, Clay Henson 18 in his first college action, and Justin Strickland , also seeing his first college action, tallied 12.
The Quakers never trailed in the first game of the tournament. Eric Belkoski opened the scoring with a layup to give the Quakers a 2-0 lead. After holding as much as a seven-point lead early in the game, the Quakers allowed Robert Morris to even the score at 16. Following that tie, which came on a Shawn March layup, Guilford's Chad Currin countered with a layup of his own to give GC the lead for good.
Brian Price led all scorers in the game, finishing with 24 points for the Eagles. He went 12-for-20 from the field and added two blocks and three steals.
