Roanoke College men will play Virginia Wesleyan in the semifinals after hammering Generals in opener
The Salem Civic Center will be the site of the annual Old Dominion Athletic Conference basketball tournament this weekend. Men’s semifinals are Friday evening with the championship game at 8 pm Saturday. Women’s semifinals are Saturday afternoon and the championship is Sunday at 2 pm.
Each tournament included eight teams, with action beginning Tuesday for the men and Wednesday for the women at home sites. In the men’s tournament top-seeded Randolph-Macon opened with a 94-73 win over Guilford on Tuesday while fourth seeded Hampden-Sydney downed Lynchburg, 82-70. The Yellow Jackets and Tigers will play a tournament semifinal at 5 pm at the Salem Civic Center Friday.
On the other side of the bracket Roanoke College hosted Washington & Lee Tuesday and took a 92-68 win. Caleb Franze scored a career high 31 points for the Maroons as they avenged two regular season defeats to the Generals. The Maroons will play Virginia Wesleyan in the other semifinal Friday night at 7:30 pm. The Marlins won their opener over Averett Tuesday, 71-65.
In the women’s tournament Roanoke snuck into the eighth seed and the Maroons were scheduled to play at undefeated Washington & Lee on Wednesday. The Generals victory over Guilford College to end the regular season marked their 16th win in as many tries in ODAC play. W&L’s win also brought the Generals’ full regular-season record to 25-0 to showcase as the first-ever completely unbeaten regular season slate in ODAC women’s basketball history. The Generals are riding the Division III’s second-longest winning streak, tied with the University of Scranton and trailing behind two-time defending national champion NYU, which is on an 85-game unbeaten run.
The Roanoke women earned a spot in the tournament by defeating the University of Lynchburg on the road last Wednesday, 64-60. The two teams were tied for the eighth spot prior to the game with nine ODAC losses each. The Maroons trailed 28-23 at the half but outscored the Hornets 41-32 in the second half to pull out the win. Roanoke was led by Moriah Tate with 14 points while Abigail Rice had 13 and Alicea Farmer had a dozen points and nine rebounds.
The Maroons closed out the regular season with a 55-42 loss to Randolph-Macon in Salem Saturday while Lynchburg beat Eastern Mennonite. Both teams finished at 6-10 in the conference but the Maroons won the tie-breaker and grabbed the final spot in the tournament. The Maroons finished the regular season with a 12-13 record.
Other first round women’s games found second seeded Randolph-Macon hosting Virginia Wesleyan, Hollins at third seeded Bridgewater and Shenandoah hosting Guilford in the four-five game.
