Posted: Jan 31, 2009
SALEM, Va. --- Roanoke defeated Lynchburg 86-75 in ODAC men's basketball action Saturday evening at the Bast Center. With the win, the Maroons improved to 16-4 and 8-3 in the ODAC. The Hornets dropped to 3-16, 1-9 in the conference.
Roanoke, ranked #26 in the D3Hoops.com National Poll, overcame Lynchburg shooting 46.7% for the game and being out rebounded, 36-29 by scoring 21 points off 18 Hornet turnovers and outscoring the Lynchburg bench, 35-15. They also made a season-best 30 free-throws and had 10 or more steals for the seventh time this season.
With the win, Roanoke holds a 115-22 series advantage and has won the last 11 meetings. Head coach Page Moir is now 41-3 against the Hornets, 2-0 against former player and LC coach Hilliary Scott '94.
After dropping three of its last four games prior to tonight, the Maroons got back on the winning track as they are 16-4 for the first time since the 1999-00 season. That year Roanoke went 24-5 and won their last ODAC Championship and NCAA Tournament berth.
Lynchburg opened the game with a 9-2 lead in the first three minutes after a Jack Burgess three-pointer. Roanoke countered with an 11-4 run to tie the contest at 13-all after a three-pointer by Melvin Felix with 14:43 left in the half. Felix gave the Maroons their first lead of the game off a lay-up to make it 20-18 at the 11:26 mark.
The lead would change back-and-forth until Parrish Walker scored a lay-up to take the lead for good just before the half. He scored five of the last seven Roanoke points of the half, including a fade away three-pointer off a steal with no time left to give them a 46-39 halftime advantage.
Walker's highlights continued in the second half, scoring the first four points, including a breakaway dunk to cap an 11-0 run and give Roanoke an 11-point lead, 50-39 just three minutes into the half.
It would be enough to keep the Hornets at bay as they didn't closer than seven the rest of the game. The Maroons did this by hitting their free-throws, going 20-of-25 in the second half to win their eighth ODAC game of the season.
Peery set career-highs in points (28-tie) and 18 free-throws made, which is the most in the Div. III era at Roanoke College and third all-time. Frank Allen '71, who is the school's all-time leading scorer, made 20 free-throws on two occasions. He now has 1,243 career points, which passes Bryant Lee '95 for 19th all-time. He is four points shy of passing Charles Small '88 for 18th on the Roanoke career scoring list.
Walker finished with six steals to tie a career-high along with 15 points in the win. The other game with six steals came against Lynchburg in the first meeting of the season. Felix tossed in 12 points while Kendrick Chittock chipped in with eight points and six rebounds to lead the Maroons. Aaron Tyson's two blocked shots moves him into a tie with Josh LaPorte '08 for ninth in single-season blocks. He is one block away of tying Kevinn Hunter '05 for seventh in career blocks.
Lynchburg was led by Steve Echols with 20 points and five rebounds. Burgess tossed in 16 points while KC Mendez finished with 12 points and five rebounds.
The men will begin a four-game road trip as they travel to Ashland, Va. to play Randolph-Macon on Feb. 4. The Maroons are 74-67 all-time against the Yellow Jackets but R-MC has won 16 of the last 17 games since 2001-02. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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