For Immediate Release March 2, 2000
Maroons To Play Rowan in Second Round
RC Defeats Marymount, 83-72, in Overtime in First Round
Roanoke vs. Marymount Box Score
SALEM, VA--Jason Strickland (Charlottesville, VA/Covenant) hit a three-pointer with 11 seconds to go in regulation sending the game into overtime where the Roanoke College men’s basketball team dominated to pull out an 83-72 win over Marymount University in the first round of the Division III men’s basketball tournament. The Maroons are now 24-4 on the season and will play Rowan University at 7:00 pm on Saturday in Glassboro, NJ. With 1:07 left in regulation, Strickland had a chance to put the Maroons up by one with two shots from the free throw line, but he missed both. The Saints went to the other end of the floor and two foul shots from Terry Hoffman (Reva, VA/Culpepper) put them up by two, that with 28 ticks left in the second half. The Maroons were unable to get a good look at the basket until Brad Dunleavy (Roanoke, VA/William Fleming) drove to the hoop and found a wide open Strickland spotting up behind the three-point line. Strickland then drained his 12th three-pointer of the year sending the game to OT. In overtime, the Maroons outscored Marymount, 14-3, and came away with their first NCAA win since the 1996 season.
With the game tied at 38 with 3:07 left in the first half, the Maroons went on a 4-0 run to close out the half and head into the lockerrooms with a 42-38 lead. Before the Saints could hit a shot in the second half, the Maroons had pushed their lead to 13 points, 51-38. Marymount started a run of its own in the second half, keeping the Maroons off the board for the next three minutes and closing to within three points. MU would then tie the score at 55 with 9:43 to go in the second half. The lead would change hands six times in the remaining minutes of the second half before Strickland’s three-pointer this it at 69.
Four Maroons scored in double-figures in the game, led by junior Colby Leftwich (Roanoke, VA/Patrick Henry) who scored 15. He also had 11 rebounds in the game. Strickland finished the contest with 13 points and 14 rebounds, his fourth double-double of the season. Dunleavy and Paris Butler (Springfield, VA/West Springfield) each tallied 14 points in the victory. With four three-pointers in the win, Butler set a Roanoke College record for most three-pointers in one season. He now has 77 on the season, one better than the old mark of 76. The Maroons pulled out the win despite shooting just 34.1 percent from the field. The Roanoke defense was strong as ever, forcing 31 MU turnovers and stealing the ball 18 times.
Hoffman scored 14 points in the game for the Saints and was joined atop MU’s scoring column by Bert Rueger (Richmond, VA/Benedictine) and Dallas Crawley (Richmond, VA/John Marshall). Crawley also had 14 boards for the Saints, who finish their season with a 16-12 record. The Saints fired at a 52.0 percent clip from the field in the first half, but could only hit 34.6 percent of their attempts the rest of the way.
Roanoke plays in Glassboro, NJ on Saturday against the Rowan University Profs, the 1996 national champions. This will be the first ever meeting between the Maroons and Rowan.