Hampden-Sydney nailed five of its eight threes in the second half, while the Tiger defense held Roanoke to just 20 points in the second half and limited the Maroons to 27.6 percent (8-of-29) shooting from the floor and 12.5 percent (1-of-8) from beyond the arc in the stanza. Senior point guard Matt Guill (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus) scored a season-high 14 points to lead the Tigers, while Mike Edwards (Richmond, VA/Steward) added 13 and sophomore forward Troy Kaase (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) recorded his fourth double-double of the year with ten points and 11 rebounds.
Roanoke got off to a quick start, outscoring the Tigers by eight points (12-4) in the opening four minutes led by five points from freshman forward Curtis Peery. The Maroons lead swelled to as much as ten, 31-21, on another Peery bucket with 2:54 to play in the half. The Tigers cut the lead to three points, 33-30, at the break as they outscored the Maroons, 9-2, over the final 2:46 thanks to four straight points by Guill.
Josh LaPorte nailed a three pointer to start the second half for Roanoke, giving the Maroons a six point advantage, 36-30, but a Troy Kaase jumper with 16:43 to play in the half gave the Tigers their first lead of the game, 39-38. A.J. Dowell’s pull-up jumper from the foul line gave the Maroons their final lead of the game, 47-45, at the 10:34 mark as consecutive three’s by Matt Green (Richmond, VA/Thomas Dale) and Edwards sent the Tigers off-and-running with a 53-49 lead with 6:56 to play.
Back-to-back free throws by Josh LaPorte with 2:14 to play cut the Tiger lead to two, 55-53, but Edwards connected on four-of-six from the foul line and Aaron Lewek knocked in a pair to seal the win for the Tigers, 62-53. Hampden-Sydney shot 37.8 percent (17-of-45) from the floor, 44.4 percent (8-of-18) from beyond the arc and knocked in 66.7 percent (20-of-30) from the foul line, while out-rebounding Roanoke, 42-29.
Curtis Peery scored a game-high 17 points for the Maroons, while LaPorte added 11 and Jared Butler ten as the Maroons shot 35.6 percent (21-of-59) from the floor, 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from beyond the arc and dropped in 70 percent (7-of-10) from the foul line.
The Tigers return to action Wednesday night in their final home game of the 2005-2006 season with a 7 pm tip-off against Guilford College. The game will be broadcast live on FM 95.7 WFLO and on the internet at www.hsc.edu/athletics.