SALEM, Va. – The men’s side of the ODAC tournament opened with quarterfinals action Wednesday night. No. 3 Roanoke hosted No. 6 Ferrum. It was just last week when the Maroons needed overtime to avoid the upset at home. Wednesday night, the Maroons left no doubt.
Roanoke led 42-36 at halftime and started the second half building separation. The Maroons shot 57 percent from the field in the second half, yielding 15 fastbreak points. Jackson Bell led the team with 21 points, Joshua McClary added 20.
Ferrum stayed in the fight for much of the half, led by Gerren Jones’ 20 points. But Bell added the emphatic exclamation point with a one-handed slam dunk in the closing minutes, leading to the 89-75 Maroons victory.
“I thought in the second half we managed to get a few easy baskets and some of them came off of defensive stops and some of them came off of turnovers,” said Roanoke College head coach Clay Nunley. “Really, the live ball turnover gave us a chance to get some shots at the rim at the other end so that was obviously a big boost for us.”
Roanoke will play No. 7 Lynchburg in the semifinals on Friday at Salem Civic Center. The Hornets sprung an upset on No. 2 Hampden-Sydney, 72-66.
On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded Randolph-Macon will play Guilford in the other semifinals match-up.