Game Notes vs. Virginia Wesleyan ? Men's Basketball

Roanoke, who is ranked #21 in the D3Hoops.com top-25 poll, will host Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday, Jan. 24. The Maroons are currently 15-2, 7-1 in the ODAC while the Marlins are 2-12, 0-7 in conference play.

Series Information vs. VWC
The Maroons lead the all-time series, 26-26, with the Marlins having the most recent success. They have won the last seven of eight meetings. The Marlins hold a 16-6 advantage since 1998, 11-5 since David Macedo has been at the helm (2000). Prior to 1998, the Maroons were 20-10 against their ODAC rival.
Last Meeting - Feb. 9, 2008
Roanoke was defeated by Virginia Wesleyan, 75-55 on Saturday afternoon. The Maroons dropped to 15-5 overall and 9-4 in conference play. The Marlins improved their record to 16-5, 10-4 in the ODAC.
VWC, who has won seven out of the last eight meetings, took a 40-23 lead at the half. The Marlins built their largest lead of the game at 25 with 12-minutes remaining in the game to help seal their 10th conference victory.
The Maroons were led by freshman Melvin Felix, who finished with 18 points and three steals in just 11 minutes of play. He shot 7-of-12 from the floor including 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. Felix has scored 35 points this week (15-for-27 from the floor).
The Marlins out rebounded the Maroons, 46-26, the Maroons lowest rebounding total and biggest deficit all season. VWC outscored the Roanoke, 16-2 in second chance points. The Maroons free throw shooting woes continued, hitting only 50-percent for the game. Roanoke has hit a combined 26-for-54 in the last three games.
Virginia Wesleyan hit 46-percent from the floor while the Maroons were 40-percent. It was the first time a Maroons opponent shot over 40-percent since Guilford (1/23).
Josh LaPorte finished with 10 points and five rebounds. Curtis Peery added eight points, seven rebounds and three steals.
The Marlins had four scorers in double-figures, led by Tyler Fantin with 17 points including 4-for-7 from three-point range and nine rebounds. Norman Hassell had 14 points and nine rebounds.
Last Time Out - vs. Randolph Jan. 21 (76-66 W)
Lynchburg, Va. -- Logan Singleton scored a career-high 17 points in the 76-66 victory over Randolph at the PER Gymnasium on Wednesday. The first-ever meeting went to the Maroons as they improved to 15-2 overall, 7-1 in the ODAC. The Wildcats fell to 2-13, 0-8 in the conference.
The #21 Maroons outscored the Wildcats in the paint, 38-28, and in bench points, 38-18. Roanoke also had a 24-17 advantage in points off turnovers.
Roanoke jumped out to a 4-0 lead as Aaron Tyson and Melvin Felix scored two apiece in the first minute of the game. Randolph was scoreless until Derri Woods-Morrow hit the back end of two free-throws at the 16:51 minute mark. Jason Rutschman then drained a three to tie the game at 4.
The men swapped the lead several times before a series of Maroon lay-ups gave Roanoke a six point lead (17-11) and caused a Randolph time-out with 10:09 remaining in the first half. Woods-Morrow answered to the 6-0 run with a lay-up but was outdone by freshman Singleton who responded with two points.
Randolph's Jimmy Greene scored two followed by a three-pointer from Singleton to maintain a 22-15 edge with 6:27 left to play.
The Wildcats went on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to two (22-21) with 4:39 on the clock. Roanoke responded as Singleton went 3-for-3 with a trey to produce a 7-2 run and six point lead (29-23) heading in to half.
Curtis Peery opened up the second half with two lay-ups and a foul shot to stretch the Maroon lead to eight (33-23).
Roanoke maintained at least an eight point lead until Aurimas Lekavicius drained a jumper at the 16:22 minute mark. Timothy Clarke added two for the Wildcats to decrease the deficit to four (36-32). Parrish Walker then scored a basket to ignite a 14-2 run to give the Maroons a 16-point lead (50-34) with 11:11 remaining in regulation.
The teams exchanged baskets for several minutes before the Wildcats went on a 12-4 run including two three-pointers and a bucket from Clarke to cut the Maroon lead to seven (62-55) with 3:24 left to play.
Matt Crizer responded with a trey followed by a Corey Poindexter lay-up to make the score 67-55 with 2:19 remaining. A sequence of buckets was not enough for Randolph as the Maroons were strong at the line, going 7-for-10 in the final two minutes of the game.
Singleton led the Maroons with a career-high 17 points and three rebounds. Felix went 4-for-4 from the line to add 16 points and three rebounds in the victory. Peery finished with 14 points and two boards.
The Wildcats were led by Clarke who scored 17 points and had three assists. Woods-Morrow also scored in double-figures with 11 points and seven boards. Green finished the night with ten points, five rebounds and two assists. Caleb Pearson had a team-high of seven assists in the loss.
About the Marlins
Virginia Wesleyan, 10-7, 4-4 ODAC, served Randolph-Macon their first ODAC loss of the season on Wednesday after its six game win streak snapped with a pair of ODAC losses to Hampden-Sydney and Guilford. Quinton McDuffie is the Marlin's top rebounder averaging 6.6 rpg. He was just one rebound shy of his second double-double against H-SC. Stephen Fields leads the Maroons with 13.7 ppg and scored 19 points and four boards in the victory over R-MC.
About the Maroons
At 15-2 and 7-1 in the ODAC, Roanoke is atop of the ODAC standings. Roanoke was ranked #21 in this week's D3Hoops Top-25 Poll. Curtis Peery, who is the ODAC-leader in free-throw percentage (85.9%) is ranked third in the ODAC in scoring (19.1 ppg), fourth in rebounding (7.3 rpg) and field goal percentage (57%). The Maroons defeated Randolph in their first-ever meeting on Wednesday, 76-66. Logan Singleton had a career-high 17-points in the victory in addition to three rebounds. Melvin Felix scored in double-figures for the fourth time in the last five games.
Record Watch
With one more blocks, senior forward Aaron Tyson will join the top-10 all-time at Roanoke in career blocked shots. He comes into tonight's game with 61 for his career. Tyson is third in the ODAC in blocked shots (26).
Curtis Peery passed Mike Bake '81to gain sole possession of 21st with 1,190 points. The Salem native recorded his third-consecutive double-double his sixth of the season with 24 points and 10 rebounds in the 80-76 victory over Guilford. Peery was also the second leading scorer against Bridgewater (17) and Washington & Lee (12).
Roanoke Remain in Top-25 Poll for Third-Straight Week
Roanoke, who is 15-2, 7-1 in the ODAC, remained in the top-25 after the loss to W&L with a #21 national ranking. The Maroons are the only ODAC conference team to be ranked but are joined by ODAC-foe Randolph-Macon who received 21 votes.
Ranked in the ODAC and the Nation
Curtis Peery is ranked in the top-five in the ODAC in five different categories. He leads the conference in free throw percentage (85.9%) and is fourth in scoring (19.1), rebounding (7.3), and field goal percentage (57%). In addition, Peery is ranked 49th nationally in field goal percentage, 60th in scoring and 62nd in free-throw percentage.

Parrish Walker is ranked fourth in the ODAC averaging 2.06 steals per game. He has recorded 33 steals this season. Drew Gaeng is ranked fifth in three-point percentage (45.5) in the conference and is also eighth in assists (2.94 apg). Aaron Tyson's 25 blocked shots are ranked 37th nationally and third in the ODAC in addition to his 5.7 rebounds per game, ranked 10th in the ODAC.