Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 9, 1995 TAG: 9502100083
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Two days after a victory over Lynchburg, the Maroons used strong second-half shooting and tight defense to mop up Eastern Mennonite 88-68 at the Bast Center.
Roanoke pulled into a second-place tie in the ODAC standings with Emory & Henry, Bridgewater and Randolph-Macon.
``We're definitely trying to build momentum going into the [ODAC] tournament'' Feb.18-20 at the Salem Civic Center, said senior forward Bryant Lee, who led the Maroons with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
``We're in an advantageous situation with our remaining games at home.''
Still on the Maroons' schedule are Washington and Lee - the only team in the ODAC Roanoke hasn't beaten - and Guilford.
Roanoke (15-7 overall, 10-6 ODAC) improved its home record to 10-1 this season with the victory Wednesday.
The Maroons started slowly and led 12-11 with 13 minutes, 30 seconds left in the first half. The score was tied eight times, and the lead changed hands nine times in the first half.
But the Maroons switched to a trapping defense and held Eastern Mennonite to four points in the last eight minutes of the half.
Roanoke went ahead 27-24 on a 3-pointer by Jason Bishop, and the Maroons used a 9-2 run to take a 36-26 halftime lead. Lee closed the half with two dunks, including an alley-oop from freshman guard Nathan Hungate.
``When we play a half-court defense, we definitely tend to get a little lackadaisical,'' Lee said. ``[The pressure] worked, because once we got the defense going, the offense picked up and we were able to score when we needed to.''
The style also wore down the Royals (5-17, 2-14), who had nine players in uniform. A 12-0 run by the Maroons to start the second half put away Eastern Mennonite.
Roanoke was 20-of-38 from the field in the second half (53 percent), compared with 38 percent by the Royals.
Bishop, a sophomore guard, finished with 13 points and eight assists for Roanoke. Center Tim Braun added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Lyndel Farmer, a freshman center, had a team-high 16 points and four rebounds for the Royals.
In the opening game Wednesday, the Roanoke junior varsity team beat Hargrave Military for the first time. The Maroons have played Hargrave twice a year since the academy started a program five years ago.
It was a coaching matchup between Kevin Martin (Roanoke) and Brian Blaney (Hargrave), who completed their senior seasons at Roanoke last year.
Sophomore guard Bobby Milliron, who played high school basketball at William Byrd, had 27 points and was 7-of-11 on 3-point attempts for the Roanoke JVs. Freshman forward Mike Ball added 24 points and 12 rebounds.
by CNB