For Immediate Release
February 16, 1999


Despite Finishing In A Tie For Fifth, Maroons Fall to Sixth Spot in ODAC Tournament
Roanoke Will Play Virginia Wesleyan at 8:00 pm on Saturday

SALEM, Va.--Despite finishing in a tie for the fifth spot in the ODAC regular-season standings, the Roanoke College men's basketball team will be the sixth seed heading into the league's tournament, which is set to begin on Saturday afternoon.

The Maroons finished in a tie for fifth with the Eastern Mennonite Royals, each concluding the season with a 9-9 league mark. However, because the two teams split the regular season meetings, the tie breaker used is a point system that EMU wins because of wins over higher ranked Virginia Wesleyan and Randolph-Macon.

Roanoke has been on a roll of late, winning four in a row and 11 of 17 since the beginning of the new year. On Monday night, the squad used a record-tying 15 three-pointers to blow past the Guilford College Quakers, 109-85. Robby Pridgen (Akron, OH/St. Vincent/St.Mary) tied a school-record with six three pointers in the game, en route to 20 points. Jason Strickland (Charlottesville, VA/Covenant) led RC with 22 markers in the contest.

Only once before have the Maroons been the sixth seed heading into the weekend tournament. In 1991, Roanoke completed the conference schedue with 6-10 record and was ranked sixth in the tournament. The Maroons fell to Hampden-Sydney in the first round that year, 92-76. As a fifth seed last year, Roanoke made it to the semifinals after beating Emory & Henry in the first round.

Virginia Wesleyan swept a pair of games from Roanoke this season, 80-77 in Salem, and 87-67 in Virginia Beach. Kyle Murphy (Farmville, VA/Fuqua) scored 19 points and added five rebounds and three blocks in Salem, while Alex Phillips' (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) 14 points on the beach led all RC scorers.

The Maroons and the Marlin have met twice in the tournament before. In 1990, VWC's first year in the league, the Maroons captured an 88-81 victory in the first round of the tournament. The Marlin exacted some revenge two years later, coming out on top of a 61-59 score, again in the first round.

Matchups for this year's tournament are as follows:

#1 Hampden-Sydney vs #8 Washington & Lee - Saturday, February 20th, 1:00 pm

#4 Emory & Henry vs #5 Eastern Mennonite - Saturday, February 20th, 3:00 pm

#2 Randolph-Macon vs #7 Bridgewater - Saturday, February 20th, 6:00 pm

#3 Virginia Wesleyan vs #6 Roanoke - Saturday, February 20th, 8:00 pm


Winner Game 1 vs Winner Game 2 - Sunday, February 21st, 2:00 pm

Winner Game 3 vs Winner Game 4 - Sunday, February 21st, 4:00 pm


Championship Game - Monday, February 22nd, 7:00 pm


Note: All games at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, VA