Roanoke Sun

hereCareer Nights Maroons Lifts Roanoke Over Generals in 4OT Thriller, 117-103

Score: Roanoke 117, Washington and Lee 103 – 4OTRecords: Maroons 20-6; Generals 18-8Location: Salem, Va.

The Short Story: It was a career night for several members of the Roanoke men's basketball team as the Maroons advanced to the semifinals of the 2023 ODAC Tournament with a four-overtime thriller over Washington and Lee on Friday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED/HIGHLIGHTS

• It was all Maroons early on with Roanoke taking a 10-4 lead on an Efosa U-Edosomwan jumper at 17:12. Tripp Greene hit a layup at 12:27 was fouled and made the free throw putting the Maroons up 20-10. The Generals cut the lead down to three at 10:03 before the Maroons put it back up to eight on a Justin Kuthan layup at 9:17. W&L was able to cut the lead over the next two minutes down to just one with a three at 7:16, 28-27, but Kasey Draper responded just 15 seconds later with a three of his own to start a 7-0 capped by a Greene layup at 5:05, putting the Maroons ahead 35-27. With a U-Edosomwan layup with just over a minute left before halftime, the Maroons build their lead up to 11 before Kuthan made a free throw with 35 seconds on the clock to give Roanoke the 46-37 lead at the break.
• The Maroons were able to keep their lead to seven or more points until a 7-0 run with 12:58 on the clock brought them within two. Joshua McClary and Greene answered with back-to-back threes putting Roanoke back on top by eight, 61-53. The Generals would slowly chip away at the Roanoke lead before tying the game up at 64-64 with 6:48 left in regulation. W&L took its first lead of the game at 65-64 on a free throw. The teams would trade leads back-and-forth with Draper hitting a three with 1:44 remaining to give the Maroons a 72-71 advantage. A pair of General free throws and a layup was followed by another three by Draper at 00:36 tied the score at 75-75. Greene had an opportunity to win it but his shot with five seconds left bounced out sending the game into overtime.
• It took over three minutes into overtime before either team scored a point when U-Edosomwan made a pair of free throws at 2:56. Draper made a short jump shot with 30 seconds left putting Roanoke ahead 82-80 before a quick layup by the Generals tied it up with 20 seconds on the clock. A last-second shot by Draper missed, sending the game into a second overtime. '
• The second overtime saw the Maroons take a four-point lead just over a minute into the period. Roanoke maintained the lead and put it at four once again with a free throw with 50 seconds left on the clock, 90-86. W&L made two quick layups in the final 30 seconds to send the game into a third overtime.
• The Maroons once again built a four-point lead at 3:31 on a Green three-pointer and Draper extended it one more to five points with 2:20 left. A pair of free throws and a second-chance three with 10.5 seconds left tied the score at 97-97 to send it to a FOURTH overtime.
• A quick basket by U-Edosomwan and a steal by Brandon Ellington and a layup by McClary gave the Maroons a four-point lead just 30 seconds into the period. Draper hit a fadeaway jumper at 3:41 and a fouled layup and free throw by U-Edosomwan put Roanoke ahead by nine with three minutes remaining in overtime. A pair of free throws at 2:48 were the first points for the Generals in the period. It was still an eight-point Maroon lead with just over two minutes left and 51 seconds left, 111-103. The Maroons made their final eight off their final free throws to finally secure the win 117-111.
• The four overtimes is only the second time in program history the Maroons have gone to four extra periods since the ODAC Tournament semifinals in 1988 against Bridgewater.
• The 117 points in the most for the Maroons since the program record 156 against Lynchburg during the 2015-16 season (in double overtime) and the third most in team history (128 vs. Shenandoah – 1996 NCAA First Round).
• Draper finished the game with a career-high 40 points and became just the 12th Maroon to score 40+ in a game; the first since Jay Piccola scored 41 vs. Old Dominion in 1973. It is also the most for a Maroon ever in a single game in the ODAC Tournament.
• Four Maroons scored 20+ in the win. In addition to Draper's 40, Green finished with a career-high 25, U-Edosomwan finished with 24, and McClary scored 21.
• U-Edosomwan recorded his first career triple-double with 24 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists. It is the first for the ODAC this year. The 10 assists are the most ever in an ODAC Tournament game for a Maroon.

UP NEXT

• Next up for the Maroons is nationally-ranked No. 2 and ODAC Tournament No. 1 seed Randolph-Macon on Saturday, February 25. Game time with the Yellow Jackets is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Salem Civic Center

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