Posted: Feb 19, 2013
With tonight's win, Roanoke advances to the ODAC Quarterfinals to face off against #12 ranked, and #3 seed in the tournament, Hampden-Sydney. The Maroons fell earlier in the season to the Tigers, but have won three of their last four games against ODAC opponents. In the last meeting on December 8th, Andrew Daniels led the Maroons in scoring with 14 points, while Cameron Smith had a team-high eight rebounds.
Daniel Eacho tied a career-high in scoring with 23 points, while shattering his career-high in rebounds, pulling down 22 boards. His 22 rebounds are a new ODAC Tournament Record, breaking the previous record of 21 held by both E.D. Schechterly (Lynchburg vs. Hampden-Sydney, 1980) and Tyler Sanborn (Guilford vs. Washington and Lee, 2009). Eacho is now tied for eighth all-time in single-game rebounds, etching his name along with Beatty Barnes, Dave Beckom and Dick Sullivan. He also sits with 224 rebounds for the season, which the highest total by any player since Colby Leftwich tallied 250 rebounds in the 2000-01 season.
The ODAC's third-leading scorer, Kwasi Amponsah (17.3 PPG), finished the contest with 19 points and four rebounds. With his 19 points, he moves to 17th all-time in scoring at Roanoke, netting 1,287. He passed James Pennix '88 (1,273) and Morris Cregger '64 (1,284) on the all-time scoring list. Amponsah was followed by Julian Ramirez who had 12 points and six rebounds. Cameron Smith tallied nine rebounds on the night.
In the first three minutes of the game Bridgewater had gotten off to a 9-6 lead, with Matthew Hunter scoring seven of the Eagles' first nine points. Eacho and Ramirez followed with a pair of layups to give the Maroons a one-point lead, 10-9. By, the 13:04 mark, Roanoke had built a four-point lead. Aaron Adams hit four consecutive points to tie the game at 17-17. The teams traded the lead four times before Roanoke gained a strong advantage. After being tied at 21-21, Amponsah scored six points, while Eacho had two to give Roanoke an eight point lead, its largest at that point in the contest. By the end of the first half, The Maroons had maintained a six-point, 35-29 advantage.
Roanoke held on to it's six point lead for the first three minutes of the game, with Bridgewater coming as close as five points (39-34). Over the next seven minutes, the Maroons went on a 16-4 run, taking a 17-point, 55-38 lead. During that run, Eacho scored 10 points, while Amponsah netted four. At the 5:21 mark, Roanoke hit its largest lead of the game of 21 points, after a free throw by Amponsah. Jordan Thacker and Amponsah maintained the Maroons lead by knocking down free throws over the final five minutes of the game. Bridgewater scored nine points in the final 41 seconds, but Roanoke's lead was too large, as the Maroons won 76-68 in the opening round of the ODAC tournament.
Matthew Hunter and Bryan Lynch led the Eagles in scoring on the evening with 11 points each. They were followed by Ed Reddick who finished the game with 10 points. Three Bridgewater players finished with six rebounds: Reddick, Ronnie Thomas and Daniel McClain. Thomas led all players in the game in assists, dishing out five during the contest.
Roanoke outshot Bridgewater 40 to 37.7 percent from the field, and held the edge, 30.8 to 26.3 percent from behind the arc. The Maroons outrebounded the Eagles 60-39, with 60 rebounds ties being the second most all-time in a single game by Roanoke. Bridgewater led in blocks (5-1) and assists (11-9).
The Maroons return to action on Friday, February 22nd as they take on #12 Hampden-Sydney in the ODAC Quarterfinals at the Salem Civic Center. That contest is scheduled for a 6:00 PM start. Tickets for adults cost $11, while tickets for students or younger are $4.50 on the day of the game.
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