The Roanoke College men’s basketball team will be home this weekend to play host to the two-day Cregger Invitational Tournament at the Cregger Center on the Salem campus.
The tournament begins Saturday at 1 pm when the host Maroons take on Goucher College of Towson, Maryland. A 3 pm game follows between Hood College of Frederick, Maryland and Wesley College from Dover, Delaware. Saturday’s losers will play a consolation game at 1 pm Sunday at the Cregger Center and the winners will meet for the championship at 3 pm.
The Maroons come into the weekend with a 5-3 record after losing a heartbreaker to Old Dominion Athletic Conference rival Virginia Wesleyan in Virginia Beach last Saturday. Roanoke rallied from a nine-point deficit late but Virginia Wesleyan came away with a 58-55 ODAC win on Saturday.
A tight first-half saw neither team able to open up more than a four-point lead. VWU was able to connect on six three-point attempts in the first stanza, but RC would hold a 25-24 lead at the intermission.
A C.J. Miles three-pointer made the score 38-35 in favor of Virginia Wesleyan with 14 minutes to go in the game. VWU then scored nine of the next 11 points, opening up a 47-37 lead following a Corey Pellham three-pointer with just over nine minutes to go.
The Maroons chipped away and pulled within three on an Eli Sumpter three-pointer with 3:34 to play. The Marlins then scored the next six points to up their lead to nine points with 1:45 to play. RC rallied and made the score 58-55 following a Caleb Jordan three-point play with three seconds to go. Following a missed free-throw on VWU’s ensuing possession RC had a chance to tie the game, but Miles could not connect on a three-point attempt.
Josh Freund paced Roanoke with 13 points and eight rebounds. Miles came off the bench to score 10 points while Jordan added nine points and Sumpter had eight apiece.
