SALEM, VA- The Roanoke College men's basketball team closed out its 200-6-07 regular season with a 79-65 win over visiting Eastern Mennonite on Saturday evening in Salem, VA. The Maroons, who secured the third seed in the upcoming Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament with the win and an Emory & Henry loss, finish the regular season with a 15-10 record and an 11-7 mark in the league. Eastern Mennonite has its season come to an end with a 7-17 record, 3-15 in the ODAC.
The Maroons led by nine at halftime, 36-27, but allowed the Royals to twice trim the lead to just one point in the second half. The second came with 9:40 left in the game on a Jason Rutschman three-pointer that made the score 56-55.
Josh LaPorte countered with a layup and Keith carter hit a free throw and the lead was back to four, 59-55.
After EMU cut the lead back to two, the Maroons used a 12-0 run to put the game out of reach. Roanoke junior
Ben Shrader scored the first eight points of that run to give the Maroons a 69-59 lead. The Maroon lead was as many as 14 late in the game. Jared Lyons hit a late three to bring the Royals to within 10, but EMU got no closer.
Shrader finished the game with a season-best 20 points, 18 of those coming in the second half.
Curtis Peery scored 16 and added eight rebounds, while
AJ Dowell had 10 and Carter nine points and six assists. Brad Parkes had 18 points to lead the Royals.
The Maroons will play at 8:00pm in the quarterfinals of the ODAC tournament at the Salem Civic Center. Roanoke's first round opponent will be Randolph-Macon which won both meetings between the two schools this season.
Roanoke vs. Eastern Mennonite Box Score
