ROANOKE, Va. -- The Ferrum College men's basketball team dropped an Old Dominion Athletic Conference contest to Roanoke College inside the Cregger Center Thursday night, 49-48. James Smith Jr. converted a layup with just :8.0 to play, but Roanoke answered right back with a Kasey Draper runner in the lane with two ticks left proved to be the difference.

RECORDS
Ferrum (1-3, 0-2 ODAC)
Roanoke (2-1, 2-0 ODAC)

THE BASICS
It was a defensive struggle for both sides from the start in this one. Both teams shot under 40% from the field, including a 5-24 clip from 3-pt land from the Panthers. A Kalip Jones trey opened the game up for both sides, but that would be the only lead for Ferrum until a Kajuan Madden-McAfee three with :34.0 left in the first half. A Draper layup would bring the Maroons within one, but the Panthers would close the first stanza with the 27-26 lead.

It was a balanced half for the Panthers in the scoring department, with Darius Kemp leading the way with nine points. Smith Jr. added six points and three boards, and Madden-McAfee and Jones each adding a three. Hunter Ladler had a big influence on the first half as well, recording three rebounds and three dimes. It was the Draper show for Roanoke in the first half as he recording 12 points while adding 4 rebounds, both team highs. Tripp Greene added eight points and Ethan Rohan added two buckets and three boards.

The final stanza saw much of what the first did, a low scoring defensive battle. The biggest lead from either side came with 5:34 to play when Efosa Edosomwan converted two free throws to put the Maroons up 46-41. The Panthers would then go on a 7-1 run to take a one-point lead, but Roanoke would come out with the victory off of a Draper runner with seconds remaining.

Smith Jr. led the Panthers with seven second-half points to add to his three rebounds. Nick Helton added seven points and two rebounds, and Carrington Young contributed three rebounds, four dimes and three steals. Edosomwan led the way for Roanoke, recording seven points, two rebounds and two steals. Trent Dawson added five points, and Draper added five points, seven boards and two assists.

KEY STATS
Ferrum: Smith Jr. 13 pts, 6 reb; Kemp 11 pts; Helton 9 pts; Young 4 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl
Roanoke: Draper 17 pts, 11 reb; Edosomwan 9 pts, 4 reb, 4 stl; Rohan 6 pts, 8 reb, 3 stl

BEHIND THE WHISTLE
"I am proud of the way we competed, we just had too many lapses on both sides of the basketball. It is a tough lesson to learn, but we have to be locked into the details." --Head Coach Tyler Sanborn

UP NEXT
Sanborn's squad will be back in action in a newly scheduled affair at home Saturday, Jan 30 to take on ODAC foe Bridgewater College inside Swartz Gymnasium.