For Immediate Release January 22, 2000
Roanoke Wins 14th of the Season
Maroons Fight Back from Halftime Deficit, Beat RMC
Roanoke vs. Randolph-Macon Box Score
SALEM, VA--The Roanoke College men’s basketball team overcome a subpar offensive night with strong defense in a 63-54 win over Randolph-Macon College on Saturday afternoon. The Maroons, the 17th ranked team in the nation, are now 14-2 on the season and 9-1 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 8-8 and 5-5 in conference play. After a low scoring first half, the Maroons found themselves trailing 25-21 heading into the lockerrooms, but outscored RMC, 42-29, in the second half to come away with thee victory. Defense was the key for the Maroons in the contest, as it forced 27 Yellow Jackets turnovers in the game and allowed RMC to shoot just 36.2 percent from the field. Brad Dunleavy (Roanoke, VA/William Fleming) was again outstanding on defense, recording a career-high six steals in the contest, as overall the Maroons had 17. In the past two games, RC has 37 steals.
The Maroons led 9-8 with 8:52 to go in the first half, but Macon scored the next five points to take a 13-9 lead which it would not give up the rest of the half. The Yellow Jackets were able to push their lead to as much as nine in the first half, before the Maroons cut it down to four at the break.
RMC held onto its advantage until the 8:57 mark of the second, when Ramsey Hathaway (Charlottesville, VA/Albemarle) hit two foul shots to tie the score at 40. Dunleavy hit a jumped just 30 seconds later to put the Maroons up by two. The teams traded the lead for the next four minutes (there were 11 ties in the contest as well). With 4:04 left in the game, Colby Leftwich (Roanoke, VA/Patrick Henry) hit two free throws to give the Maroons the lead for good. The Yellow Jackets closed to within one point, but a three-pointer by Paris Butler (Springfield, VA/West Springfield), his only field goal of the game, was the ‘nail in the coffin’ for the Yellow Jackets. RC nailed five free throws in the final minute and Dunleavy capped off the scoring with a reverse dunk with 22 seconds left to give the Maroons the final nine point lead, 63-54.
Leftwich led all Roanoke scorers in the game, knocking down 14 points, while Dunleavy added 13. In addition to his 13 points and six steals, Dunleavy had three assists and five rebounds. Although he scored just six points, senior Ramsey Hathaway had one of his best games on the boards on Saturday, grabbing a game-high nine missed shots.
Jamie Rice (Hagerstown, MD/St. Maria Goretti) led all scorers in the game, as the Macon freshman dropped in 20 on 10-of-15 shooting from the field. Mike Moore (McLean, VA/McLean) chipped in 13 points to the RMC effort.
Roanoke closes out it three-game homestand on Wednesday night as it hosts the Wasps of Emory & Henry College. The ball will be tossed at 7:00 pm in the Bast Center in Salem, VA.