Sophomore guard Mike Edwards (Richmond, VA/Steward School) led the way for Hampden-Sydney with 13 points, while sophomore center Davis Bowne (Hickory, NC/St. Stephen’s) had ten points and a game-high eight rebounds. Freshman guard A.J. Dowell (Roanoke, VA/Salem) contributed seven points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals to spark the Tigers off the bench.
Jared Butler led the Maroons with 15 points, while Kevinn Hunter scored 11 of his 12 points in the second half. Tee Jackson added 11 to give the Maroons three players in double-figures.
After spotting Hampden-Sydney the first lead of the game, Roanoke battled back to control the first half, leading by as much as seven (20-13) on a Jared Butler three-pointer with 7:24 remaining. The Tigers came back to tie the game on a Troy Kaase (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) layup, but a three by Tee Jackson and layup by Butler helped give the Maroons a 25-22 lead at the break.
Roanoke pulled out to a six point lead in the second half as another Tee Jackson three gave the team a 35-29 advantage with 15:11 left to play. The Tigers came back to take their first lead of the second half just two minutes later thanks to six straight points by junior guard Matt Guill (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus) that made the score 38-37 with 13:05 remaining.
The Tigers never trailed from that point, building the lead to as much as nine points, 56-47, on a Mike Edwards free throw with under a minute left to play. Three’s by Roanoke’s Keith Carter and Jared Butler in the final seconds held the Tigers in check but free throws by A.J. Dowell sealed the contest to give H-SC the 59-53 win.
Hampden-Sydney shot 39 percent (17-44) from the floor, 36 percent (4-11) from three-point range and 70 percent (21-30) from the foul line, while committing 20 turnovers of its own. Meanwhile, the Tigers had perhaps their best defensive effort of the season in the victory as they forced 20 turnovers, made eight steals, and limited Roanoke to 38 percent shooting (19-of-50), while out-rebounding the Maroons, 38-26, including a 27-20 effort on the defensive end.
The Tigers return to the floor Sunday, January 16, as they host Washington and Lee University at 2 pm. The game will be broadcast live on 50,000-watt FM 95.7 WFLO and on the internet at www.hsc.edu/athletics.