The Roanoke College men picked up a big Old Dominion Athletic Conference basketball win last Friday when they dominated a solid Averett University team. The Maroons won their sixth straight game and moved up to 17th in the D3hoops.com national Division III rankings with a 68-46 win in the Cregger Center in Salem.
The Roanoke defense held the Cougars to just 27.8 percent (15-54) shooting for the game and held a 50-34 rebounding edge. The Maroons went up early as a 20-5 run put the RC ahead 25-9 at the 10-minute mark. RC extended the lead to 18 at halftime, 36-18, and went ahead by 20 with 11:41 left in the second half.
Gavin O’Malley recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Marcus Morgan scored a game-high 16 points to go with six rebounds and Jackson Bell netted 11 points with five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Caleb Franze had eight points while Zach Rosenthal compiled seven points and five rebounds.
With the win the Maroons improved to 15-4 overall and 8-2 in the conference. They were scheduled to play at Washington & Lee on Wednesday in a big conference game. The Generals beat RC by one point in a prior meeting in Salem when the Maroons had three shots in the final seconds that wouldn’t fall.
Virginia Wesleyan continues to lead the conference with an 8-1 ODAC record. Randolph-Macon and Roanoke have two ODAC losses each, then W&L, Hampden-Sydney and Averett follow with four conference losses each.
The Maroons have a favorable schedule as they head down the home stretch. They play Eastern Mennonite in Harrisonburg this Saturday then finish up the regular season with four straight home games against ODAC foes Guilford, Shenandoah, Lynchburg and Randolph.
