SALEM, Va. – Host Roanoke College jumped out to a big lead early and then had to hold on for a 75-71 victory over visiting Shenandoah in the Jimmy V Classic Tournament championship game Saturday afternoon at the Bast Center.

Roanoke (2-0) scored the game's first seven points and had a 17-2 lead by the 14:13 mark as SU (1-1) missed its first five shots from the field during this span and also turned the ball over four times in the first six minutes. Despite these struggles, Shenandoah had a chance to win it in its final possession of the game.

Trailing 73-71 and with the ball, the Hornets turned it over in the frontcourt as they attempted to set up for a potentially game-tying or winning shot. Keith Carter then iced it for the hosts by canning two free throws with two seconds remaining.

The opening bulge eventually reached 17 points before a 9-0 SU run brought the Hornets within single digits at 22-14 at the 10:56 mark.

Unfortunately, Shenandoah went cold after getting itself back into it, and the Maroons were able stretch the advantage back out to 17 over the next five minutes.

SU cut the deficit into single digits once again with 91 seconds remaining, but Roanoke was able to head into the break with a 43-31 lead after AJ Dowell canned a buzzer-beating three-pointer.

The visitors made their first significant run of the contest to open the second – Shenandoah scored the first eight points of the stanza to trail by just four, 43-39, after a Stevie Johns 'trey' with 18-13 left.

RC answered this spurt with a 9-0 run of its own over the next 2:07, and they held a double-digit advantage until the Hornets were able to again make another push.

Coach Rob Harris' club got it to six, 56-50, with 10:58, but once again Roanoke had an answer.

This time the Maroons scored seven straight points in 87 seconds, and Shenandoah would trail by at least six points until making that final run ended with the turnover.

Senior Jeremiah Lawrence, who earned All-Tournament honors, led the visitors with 21 points and 11 rebounds while Onyie Onunaku had 15 points with Johns and Lenzie Adams 12 apiece. Onunaku was also all-tournament.

Box Score

Shenandoah completes this three-game road trip to start the season with a 7:30 contest Tuesday night at Eastern Mennonite.