EMORY – The Roanoke College men's basketball team led Emory & Henry after the first half, but fell to a series of second half runs by the Wasps, taking a 96-89 ODAC loss on the road on Wednesday.   The Maroons now have a record of 6-10, 1-6 in ODAC play, while the Wasps are 3-13, 2-5 in the ODAC.
 
John Fitchett led the Maroons in scoring for the third time this season, putting up 20 points against the Wasps.  Fitchett came off the bench to shoot 6-12 from the field, including 4-7 from behind the arc.  Julian Ramirez tallied 15 points in the contest shooting 7-13 with five rebounds, seven assists and two steals.  Also in double figures was Andrew Daniels, who finished with 13 points, 3-8 from three point land, with two assists and three steals.  Joey Miller finished in double-digits for the third time this season, and third time in the new year.  He finished with two rebounds and two assists.
 
In the first five minutes of the first half, Emory & Henry jumped out to a 15-7 lead, which included back to back three pointers by Myles Turner and John Shelor.  Through the 7:21 mark, Roanoke trailed by 12, 35-23, but were determined to make up lost ground.  The Maroons went on an 8-0 run, started by a layup by Seth Bradley and capped by a three-pointer by Andrew Daniels.  After the Wasps' Ryan Gravley scored five consecutive points, Roanoke answered with a pair of three-pointers, one each from Dustin Hassell and Daniels.  With 2:07 to play in the half, Roanoke trailed by three, 40-37.  Roanoke finished off the half with five points from John Fitchett, including a three-pointer with 51 seconds to play as the Maroons entered the locker room with a 42-40 lead.
 
Roanoke's Carter Wright opened the second half with a pair of layups, while Julian Ramirez and Alex Weant combined for five more points to boost the Maroons to their largest lead of seven, 51-44 with 18:08 to play.  Emory & Henry's first run of the half came over the next four minutes, as the Wasps outscored the Maroons 12-2 to reclaim the lead and go ahead by three, 56-53 with 14:06 to play.  A minute later, Fitchett hit a three to tie the game again, this time at 58-58.  Three minutes later, a pair of Fitchett free throws tied the game at 60 all.  But a Gravley three spurred another 12-2 run by the Wasps, taking a 72-62 lead with 7:41 to play.  Noah Walker scored seven consecutive points to push Emory & Henry's lead to 15, 83-68.  Roanoke started to build a comeback in the final minutes as the Maroons went on a 12-3 run, with four points by Ramirez and three each by Miller and Daniels.  However, despite Joey Miller scoring Roanoke's last seven points, Emory & Henry matched that tally with free throws down the stretch as the Maroons fell 96-89 on Wednesday.
 
Emory & Henry's entire starting five finished in double-figures in the game.  John Shelor led the team with 18 points, shooting 4-8 from the field, and 3-6 from behind the arc.  Brandon Self put together a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds.  Ryan Gravley shot 5-9 for 16 points with a team high five assists.
 
The Wasps outshot the Maroons 54.0 to 45.2 percent from the field, while the Maroons held the edge at the free throw line, 77.8 to 76.0 percent.  The Wasps also led in rebounds 45-32, while the Maroons led in assists 17-16.
 
The Maroons return to action on Saturday, January 24^th as they play host to Bridgewater College as part of Maroon Madness.  That contest is scheduled to start at 3:30 PM, immediately after the women's game against Eastern Mennonite at 1:00 PM.  For students, there will be free food, raffles, prizes, contests and more.
 
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