The Roanoke College Maroons won a home invitational for the second time this season when they captured the Cregger Invitational at the Cregger Center in Salem last weekend. The Maroons previously won the Leftwich Invitational on the first weekend of the season.
Roanoke opened the weekend with a 69-51 win over Goucher on Saturday afternoon. Josh Freund led four Maroons in double figures with 16 points. In addition to Freund, Caleb Jordan had 12 points, Colton Reed came off the bench to score 11 and C.J. Miles chipped in with 10. Roanoke held a 44-31 edge on the glass, led by Jordan and Freund who combined for 17 boards. Jordan also dished out seven assists in the win.
The Gophers led 13-12 following a three-pointer by Elliott Wiley with 10:28 left in the first half. A Reed three-pointer sparked a 13-2 run by the Maroons that was capped by Freund’s bucket to make the score 26-15 with just under four minutes to play in the half. The Maroons led 30-22 at the intermission and opened the second-half with another 13-2 run which grew the RC lead to 43-25 with 14:42 to play in the game.
Roanoke maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half and went up by as much as 21 points when a Joey Miller layup made the score 68-47 with 3:35 left on the clock.
Wesley beat Hood College, 105-94, in Saturday’s second game to set up a Roanoke-Wesley game in the final on Sunday afternoon. The Maroons outlasted the Wolverines 79-76 to win that game, earning the tournament trophy.
Joey Miller led Roanoke with 19 points on Sunday. All-Invitational selection Jordan had 13 points, Miles had 12 and the Cregger Invitational Most Outstanding Player, Freund, chipped in with 10 points.
With the score tied 13-13 Roanoke went on a 15-5 run that was capped by a Joe Mikalauskas three-pointer that opened up a 28-18 lead for RC with 7:46 to play in the first-half. Wesley came right back with 14 unanswered points, taking a 32-28 advantage following a pair of free-throws from Mychal Stefanides. RC would take a 39-38 advantage into the locker room at intermission thanks to a Logan Vosburg three-pointer with 19 seconds on the clock.
The second-half was a see-saw affair that featured five ties and 10 lead changes. Roanoke led 72-70 when Freund made a basket with just under two minutes remaining. Stefanides connected on a three-pointer on the ensuing Wesley possession to put the Wolverines up one, but Jordan responded with a bucket to give RC the lead again and, following a defensive stop, Miles drilled a three-pointer to make it 77-73.
Brian Cameron made a three-pointer for Wesley with five seconds to go before Eli Sumpter made two free-throws to extend the RC advantage to three with 3.4 seconds to go. Wesley got a good look at a three-pointer as time expired, but Evan Anderson’s attempt went in and out, securing the RC win.
The win gives Roanoke a 7-3 record at the holiday break. The Maroons will return to action December 29 and 30 with the Tournament of Heroes in Staten Island, New York. The next home game is Saturday, January 3, against Lynchburg College.