SALEM, VA (December 3, 2008)- Tough luck has followed Hampden-Sydney's basketball Tigers for much of the 2008-09 hoops season.
Apparently on Hampden-Sydney's latest road trip to Salem, the Tigers' close, but unfriendly acquaintance made its way onto the chartered bus once more.
Roanoke College (6-1, 1-0 ODAC) made just enough plays down the stretch to hold off the Tigers and earn a 70-65 victory over Hampden-Sydney (2-4, 0-1 ODAC) in the first conference tilt for both squads.
Jonathan Mudd (Miami, FL/American) paced H-SC with a career-high 18 points on 6-for-8 shooting in just 23 minutes of action. The junior transfer was saddled with foul trouble for much of the contest and sat for the majority of the second half after picking up his fourth personal foul at the 13:10 mark of the frame. Mudd fouled out of the contest in the waning moments.
Turner King (Roanoke, VA/Roanoke Catholic) fought through physical defensive pressure from the Maroons to tally 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
Both teams played relatively even during a first half that witnessed five ties and seven lead changes, but Roanoke used a quick 5-0 spurt to close the half with a 33-28 lead thanks to a Melvin Felix three-pointer and Kendrick Chittock jumper.
A Parrish Walker lay-up extended the Maroons' advantage to seven, 39-32, with 17:43 remaining in the game, but the Tigers mounted a furious 7-0 run over the next 50 seconds and tied the count at 39 on a Shane Payne (Weston, FL/Sagemont) triple from the corner at the 16:53 mark.
The Maroons, however, proved unfriendly guests, partaking on a 13-4 run in the ensuing 4:34 that resulted in a 52-43 lead when Felix connected on two foul shots. Felix narrowly missed a chance to put Roanoke up 12 when his three-pointer on the Maroons' ensuing came up empty, and Hampden-Sydney pounced on the opportunity.
The Tigers responded with a critical 11-0 run courtesy of five offensive rebounds that led to nine points, and a Lane Medlin (West Point, VA/Fork Union) tip-in awarded Hampden-Sydney its first lead of the second half, 53-52, with 8:23 remaining. Hampden-Sydney failed to convert on several opportunities to extend its lead, going 0-for-5 from the floor over the next 2:28.
Colin O'Neill (Fort Leavenworth, KS/Leavenworth) knocked down 1-of-2 free throws to give the Tigers a 54-52 edge at 7:15, but once Roanoke's Drew Gaeng connected from deep to put the Maroons back in front, 55-54, the Tigers could not manage to get over the hump.
Hampden-Sydney tied the game up on three more occasions in the final 7:00, but a pair of Curtis Peery free throws with 1:18 to go put Roanoke ahead to stay.
Walker led Roanoke with 13 points while Peery, the Maroons' leading scorer at over 20 points-per-game coming in, tallied 12 points on the evening, eight of which came from the foul line where he was a perfect 8-of-8. Melvin Felix came off the bench to record 12 points for a Roanoke team that shot 46 percent and went to the foul line 30 times, making 20 of those attempts.
No one on the Tiger roster outside of Mudd and King reached double figures, but Payne and Jyri Laakso (Oulu, Finland/Makelinrinne) each notched seven points. Payne also fouled out with just over three minutes to go, but pulled down four rebounds in his 26 minutes.
The Tigers out-rebounded Roanoke 35-32 and committed 13 turnovers opposed to 14 for the Maroons, but the story came at the foul line where Roanoke made more free throws (20) than Hampden-Sydney attempted (12-for-15).
Hampden-Sydney will take a two-week respite for exams and return to the hardwood on Wednesday, December 17 when it tips-off against Lancaster Bible at 7:00 pm in S. Douglas Fleet Gymnasium.
