The Game Facts:
Score: No. 20 Roanoke 71, Pfeiffer 70
Location: Newport News, Va. – Freeman Center

The Short story:  The Roanoke College men's basketball team rallied from 18 points down in the second half Friday afternoon to post a 71-70 victory over Pfeiffer University in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament hosted by Christopher Newport University.

The Falcons took their biggest lead of the game at 57-39 with 11:40 remaining before a 10-0 Maroon run cut the lead to 57-49 with 8:46 left. Pfeiffer led 70-59 before back-to-back Maroon three pointers from Joshua McClary and Caleb Franze cut the edge to just five with 2:15 left. A Joshua Morse put back and Marcus Morgan driving layup brought Roanoke back within one with 37 seconds left. The Maroons forced a tough shot on the defensive end and McClary was fouled while controlling the defensive rebound. The senior captain connected on both free throws and a Pfeiffer half court shot at the buzzer fell short.

How it happened:  
*The teams were tied at nine all at the 12:22 mark of the first half before Roanoke went ahead 15-9 after a 6-0 run. The two squads exchanged 6-0 surges to put RC ahead 21-15 at 7:44.
*Pfeiffer closed the half on a 23-7 run to go ahead 38-28 at intermission.
*Patrick Clevenger had a team-high seven points with three boards in the first 20 minutes.



Inside the numbers:
*Morgan hit on 7-of-9 shots for 18 points, and added four rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks.
*McClary netted a team-high 19 points with five rebounds and two steals.
*Gavin O'Malley neared a double double with nine points and nine rebounds.
*Franze finished with nine points and Morse snared eight rebounds.
*Daymon Beckwith scored a game-high 20 for Pfeiffer (18-8).
*Roanoke hit 16-of-23 from the free-throw line in the second half after shooting just 1-of-2 in the first half.  
*Today's victory was the first NCAA Tournament win for the program since the 2000-2001 season.

Next time:
The Maroons, ranked No. 20 in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, are 24-5 on the season. They move on in the NCAA Tournament to face CNU Saturday at 6:30 p.m.