SALEM, VA- Down by as many as 10 points in the first half and trailing by eight at halftime, the Roanoke College men's basketball team rallied for a 21-point victory over Randolph-Macon on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament. The Maroons improve to 16-10 on the season with their 15th win in the last 18 games. Randolph-Macon ends the year with a 14-12 record. The Maroons snap a 14-game losing streak to the Yellow Jackets and get their first ODAC tournament win since 2003.
Down 35-27 at halftime, the Maroons got eight consecutive points from junior
Josh LaPorte to start the second half. LaPorte opened with a post-up layup, then scored on a fastbreak layup, and then scored with a back-to-the-basket move to make the score 35-33 less than two minutes into the second half. He then collected a missed Roanoke shot and stuck in the put-back to tie the score at 35 with 17:53 left. After a missed Roanoke fastbreak layup, Maroon junior
Keith Carter grabbed the rebound and put in a basket to give Roanoke its first lead of the game.
After Randolph-Macon's Boris Varela tied the score moments later, Roanoke sophomore center
Curtis Peery hit a hook shot from the baseline, giving the Maroons a 39-37 lead with 16:59 left. They would never trail again.
Zach Milton scored in the lane,
Ben Shrader scored on a second chance jumper, and
AJ Dowell rolled in a running layup and the Maroons led 45-37 with 13:58 to play.
After Roanoke got its lead out to nine points with 11:44 to play, the Yellow Jackets used a 6-0 run to trim the Maroon lead to 53-50. That came after Justin Short drained a jumper from the elbow. After a Roanoke timeout, junior
Jeff Leiter took over, hitting three consecutive three-point field goals to push the Maroon lead to 11 points, 62-51. Randolph-Macon again made a small run, getting to within six points, 62-56, with 6:49 left. LaPorte answered with another basket and
Curtis Peery made four straight free throws to get the Maroon lead back to double-digits. That lead, which was 68-56 following the Peery foul shots, never dipped below 10 again.
The Maroons outscored Randolph-Macon 52-23 in the second half of play. The 52 points were the most the Maroons have scored in a single half this season. The Roanoke win was its first over RMC since January 20, 2001.
LaPorte and Peery each had their fifth double-doubles of the season. LaPorte had 13 points and 12 rebounds, all the points coming in the second half of play. Peery finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, six and six coming in the second half. Leiter tallied a career-high 11 points in the win, while
Zach Milton and
AJ Dowell each score din double-figures.
Roanoke vs. Randolph-Macon Box Score
