Roanoke College broke away from a late 66-66 tie to record a 79-73 victory over Eastern Mennonite University in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference men's basketball opener for both teams on Wednesday night in Salem, Va.

EMU (3-2, 0-1 ODAC) led by as many as nine at 24-15 with 8:35 remaining in the first period. However, RC (6-0, 1-0 ODAC) quickly put together an 8-0 run to cut the lead to one and finished the half on an overall 20-7 run for a 35-31 halftime lead. The Maroons took their first lead of the game with 54 seconds left in the half.

Roanoke extended its lead to as high as six in the second half before EMU tied the game at 45-45 with 14:25 remaining. The teams battled through six lead changes and five ties, including 66-66 with 3:59 remaining. Sophomore forward Josh LaPorte (Staunton, Va.) hit back-to-back layups to ignite a 6-0 RC run. EMU crawled to within 73-70 with 51 seconds left before RC clinched the 79-73 victory at the free throw line.

Senior guard Jared Butler (Springfield, Va.) led four Roanoke players in double figures with 15 points and also had four assists. LaPorte, the reigning ODAC Player of the Week, registered 14 points and seven rebounds. Junior forward Tee Jackson (Galax, Va.) chipped in 11 points and went 3-for-4 on three-point field goals while freshman center Curtis Peery added 10 points.

Junior forward Jason Sager (Edinburg, Va.) posted his second double-double of the season with 19 points and 15 rebounds along with five assists for EMU. He needs just 15 points to reach 1,000 for his career. Junior center Jason Lentz (Diana, W.Va.) came off the bench with 16 points and five rebounds. Sophomore guard Korey Whiting (Stafford, Va.) had 10 points and five rebounds while senior forward E.J. Arrington (Staunton, Va.) had 10 points, three rebounds, and three assists.

Roanoke shot 50.9% from the floor for the game, including 53.6% (15-of-28) in the second half. The Maroons also shot 54% (7-of-13) from the three-point arch. EMU shot 41.9% for the game and 50% (6-of-12) from the arch. After struggling at the foul line in the first half, the Royals rebounded to go 12-for-13 at the charity stripe in the second period. EMU led RC in rebounds 37-33.

EMU will return home on Saturday night for a 7 p.m. contest against the Eagles of Bridgewater College.



Newspaper Box Score
Eastern Mennonite vs Roanoke
11-30-05 7:00 at Salem, VA
At Salem, VA
ROANOKE 79, EASTERN MENNONITE 73
EASTERN MENNONITE (3-2, 0-1)
SAGER, Jason 5-14 7-10 19; LENTZ, Jason 5-9 6-7 16; ARRINGTON, E.J. 5-11 0-0
10; WHITING, Korey 3-8 2-2 10; LYONS, Jered 2-3 0-0 6; PARKES, Brad 3-8 0-2
6; PARRISH, LeRoger 2-5 0-0 4; BROWN, Dalany 1-2 0-0 2; BAILEY, Corey 0-0
0-0 0; GORDON, JoMorrae 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-62 15-21 73.
ROANOKE (6-0, 1-0)
BUTLER, Jared 4-9 5-6 15; LAPORTE, Josh 4-9 4-6 14; JACKSON, Tee 4-7 0-0 11;
DOWELL, AJ 3-5 5-6 11; PEERY, Curtis 5-7 0-0 10; SIGMON, Ty 4-6 0-2 8;
CARTER, Keith 3-6 0-0 6; DIGGS, Michael 1-3 0-0 2; TYSON, Aaron 1-3 0-0 2;
ALLEN, Jamiel 0-0 0-0 0; DAVIS, Bart 0-0 0-0 0; LAWLER, Ben 0-2 0-0 0.
Totals 29-57 14-20 79.
Eastern Mennonite............. 31 42 - 73
Roanoke....................... 35 44 - 79
3-point goals-Eastern Mennonite 6-12 (WHITING, Korey 2-3; LYONS, Jered 2-2;
SAGER, Jason 2-5; PARKES, Brad 0-1; PARRISH, LeRoger 0-1), Roanoke 7-13
(JACKSON, Tee 3-4; LAPORTE, Josh 2-4; BUTLER, Jared 2-3; CARTER, Keith 0-1;
DOWELL, AJ 0-1). Fouled out--Eastern Mennonite-ARRINGTON, E.J.,
Roanoke-None. Rebounds-Eastern Mennonite 37 (SAGER, Jason 15), Roanoke 33
(LAPORTE, Josh 7). Assists-Eastern Mennonite 16 (SAGER, Jason 5), Roanoke 11
(BUTLER, Jared 4). Total fouls-Eastern Mennonite 17, Roanoke 23. A-415