Freshman Ben Shrader (Tazewell, VA/Mercer Christian Academy) scored a career-high 29 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 54 seconds left, to rally visiting Roanoke to a 79-77 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) men's basketball win at Guilford Wednesday. The Maroons (8-5, 2-4 ODAC) overcame a 19-point first-half deficit for their fifth straight win and ended the Quakers' (8-5, 3-3 ODAC) four-game winning streak.
    For the second straight contest, Roanoke erased a sizable halftime deficit. After trailing Washington and Lee by nine at the break Saturday, the Maroons rebounded for a 12-point home win. Tonight they trailed 37-24 after Guilford's Kerry Atkinson (Raleigh, NC/Wakefield) sparked the Quakers with 11 first-half points off the bench. The Maroons made only eight-of-28 field goals (.286) and committed 12 turnovers in the first half.
    Roanoke scored 13 of the second half's first 15 points to pull within 39-37 three-and-a-half minutes into the frame. Following baskets by both teams, Shrader buried his first of six second-half trifectas and triggered a 16-3 Maroons' run over the next 3:21. After falling behind 31-12, Roanoke outscored Guilford, 41-11, over the next 13 minutes and 12 seconds and led 53-42 with 12:18 left.
    The Quakers mounted a comeback of their own. While Shrader was the only Maroon with a field goal in the game's last 10 minutes, Guilford assembled a 17-6 run and took a 72-71 lead on Genaro Lawhorn's (Greensboro, NC/Oak Ridge Military Academy) layup with 1:14 left in the game. Shrader answered on Roanoke's next possession with his eighth three-pointer for a 74-72 Roanoke advantage. Lawhorn missed two free throws on the Quakers' next possession and Roanoke iced the game by making all five free throws in the final 44 seconds.
    Shrader scored 21 of his 29 points in the second half, made eight of 13 three-pointers and added five rebounds. Senior Kevinn Hunter (Dale City, VA/Gar-Field) tallied 14 points and seven boards for the Maroons. Junior Jared Butler (Springfield, VA/West Springfield) chipped in with 13 important second-half points and four assists. Rookie Josh LaPorte (Staunton, VA/Riverheads) grabbed a game-high 10 boards.
    Atkinson paced Guilford's scorers for the third straight game with 17 points. Lawhorn finished with 16 points, despite sitting out the first 10 minutes of the second half. Freshman reserve Ben Strong (Chapel Hill, NC/Chapel Hill) added a career-high 15 points. Guilford shot a season-low 47.1 percent from the free-throw line (8-17) and missed four-of-11 second-half free throws.
    The Quakers hit the road for three straight games starting with Saturday's (1/15) 5:00 p.m. ODAC tilt at Eastern Mennonite. The Maroons have a 2:00 p.m. league contest at Hampden-Sydney Saturday (1/15).