The Short Story:  The Roanoke men's basketball team traveled to our nation's capital this week to take part in the 2023 Catholic Classic and came away with a split of their two games. The Maroons opened with a win over Eastern before falling to host Catholic.

THE GAME FACTS
Score: Roanoke 79, Eastern 71
Location: Washington, D.C.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Scoring was at a premium early in the first half with the Eagles hitting a three with 15:14 on the clock to take a five-point lead. Eastern would attempt to keep the lead, but Zach Rosenthal hit a three with 12:02 left in the half to give the Maroons the lead back. Roanoke would lead by as many as five on four occasions and the score would be tied twice as the Maroons would take a five-point lead into the locker room thanks to a layup by Justin Kuthan with two seconds left.
• Both teams came out firing in the second half with the Maroons extending their lead to 49-41 less than four and a half minutes into the period. A layup by Jack Brestel with 15:12 left put the Maroons up double-digits 51-41. A layup by Kuthan at 9:25 gave Roanoke their biggest lead at 13 before the Eagle would trim the lead down to just five with 5:00 left in the game. Back and forth baskets and free throws saw the Maroons slightly push their lead higher before settling in for the 79-71 win.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Three Maroons finished in double figures as Joshua Morse had 20, Rosenthal had 18, and Kuthan finished with 16.
• Kuthan also recorded another double-double with his 16 points and added 11 rebounds. 
• Roanoke led in both bench points (11-8) and points in the paint (48-32).

THE GAME FACTS
Score: Catholic 99, Roanoke 72
Location: Washington, D.C.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Cardinals got on a hot streak early in the first half, scoring 36 points in the first 10 minutes, while holding the Maroons to just nine. Rosenthal led Roanoke's push to get back into the game, as the Maroons cut the lead down to 17 with 3:30 left in the half. A quick 9-0 run by Catholic put their lead back up to 26 before a last second three gave them a 25 point advantage as the teams went to the locker rooms.
• The Maroons kept pace with the Cardinals in the second half with the 45-43, but it was not enough to overcome the hot start by the host team as Roanoke dropped the 99-72, non-conference matchup.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Joshua McClary led Roanoke with 21 points with Rosenthal (20) and Marcus Morgan (15) also reaching double-figures.
• The Maroons led in points off turnovers (27-16), points in the paint (36-30), and fast break points (13-4).

UP NEXT

• The Maroons are off for Christmas before returning to campus to host the Cregger Invitational on Dec. 29 - 30. The Maroons start off against Worcester St. on Dec. 29 at 12 p.m. The other matchup on Friday features Sewanee vs. Ohio Wesleyan.