Salem, VA - The men's basketball team defeated Shenandoah, 75-71 to win the 2007 V-Foundation Classic hosted by Roanoke on Saturday. The Maroons improve to 2-0 on the season, their best start since 2005-06. The Hornets dropped to 1-1 on the season.

The Maroons started the game the same way as last night with a 22-5 run to open the game. The Hornets would respond with a 9-0 run as Kris Scott scored on a lay-up to make the score, 22-14 with 10:56 remaining in the half.

A lay-up by Aaron Tyson would give the Maroons a comfortable 36-19 lead to cap a 14-5 run with 6:56 left in the half. Tyson would finish the afternoon with 11 points off 5-of-8 shooting from the field.

The Hornets would then go on a run of their own, 12-3 over the next five minutes to close the deficit back to eight, 39-31. Roanoke would head into the locker room with a 43-31 lead.

Shenandoah would come out the gate with three consecutive buckets to close to within four, 43-39 at the 18:13 mark.

The Maroons, who never trailed in the game, kept the Hornets from gaining any ground as they countered with a 9-0 run which was highlighted with Josh LaPorte's dunk.

Roanoke would control the momentum of the game until late in the second half as Shenandoah made a late push. Jeremiah Lawrence would score off a tip-in to make it a two-point game, 73-71 with :31 seconds remaining.

Two missed free throws by senior guard Keith Carter would give the Hornets to capitalize with :25 seconds left. A turnover by Shenandoah was picked up by a diving AJ Dowell to gain possession as Carter was fouled with two seconds left.

Carter connected on both free throws to redeem himself to give the Maroons their second victory of the season.

LaPorte, who was one point shy of his career-high with 19 points, also pulled down nine rebounds. He was named 2007 V-Foundation Classic MVP after a 21-point, 26-rebound performance in the Classic. He pulled down a career-high 17 boards in the first game vs. York on Friday. His four steals on the weekend passed assistant coach Robby Pridgen and Brad Dunleavy (now an assistant at Virginia Wesleyan) for ninth all-time in steals (134).

Dowell, who was named V-Foundation All-Tournament Team, had 10 points and five assists in the championship game. He finished the weekend with 26 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. He has scored in double figures in the last six games dating back to last season.

Carter had a career-high seven assists and five steals in Friday's game vs. York (Pa.). He finished today's game with 10 points, five assists and four steals in 30 minutes of action. He finished the weekend with 12 assists and nine steals to lead the Maroons. The 10 points was the most Carter has scored since pouring in a career-high 15 last season vs. Hampden-Sydney (1/21).

Ty Sigmon had a career-high two blocks as he put in quality minutes on the front line for the Maroons.

The Maroons will be back in action after the Thanksgiving break on Nov. 26. They will play Ferrum at the Roanoke Civic Center with game time scheduled for 7 p.m.