Elijah Cobb
November 13, 2019
By Donnie Hall
Roane State sports information writer
The Roane State Raiders picked up their first win of the season Wednesday night, 81-74, in an all-important conference match-up against defending champion Motlow State Community College.
On a night that had been touted as “Pack the Gym” night, the Raiders – with help from a vocal and vibrant home court crowd – outlasted a very physical Bucs team.
Roane State sophomore guard Kavan Hill paced the team to a 33-25 halftime lead with 14 first half points, including 12 points from three point range.
In the second half, early back-to-back threes by Micah Fallin and Jacob Naylor extended the Raiders lead to twelve, 42-30.
With 7:30 remaining in the contest, a strong inside game for Roane State lengthened their lead over Motlow to 18 points, 65-47.
Then, with just under four minutes remaining, the Bucs scored nine unanswered points, cutting the Raider’s lead to five, 73-68.
In the final 58.4 seconds, Roane State connected on eight of ten free throws to secure their first victory of the season, and their first win in conference play.
Kavan Hill led all scorers with 23 points. Jacob Naylor tallied 16 points on the night, including a perfect six of six from the free throw line. Elijah Cobb added twelve and Malachi Johnson had eleven.
Unofficially, Derrick Rayford scored eleven points for the Bucs. Jace Wallace and Daryl Thompson had ten points each in the losing effort.
The Raiders opened their season in Florida with four losses against very tough opponents, three of which, according to Raiders head coach Randy Nesbit, are “legitimate contenders for the national championship.”
“We could have made a schedule where we’d be 5-0 right now,” Nesbit said. “But we took our experience of playing nationally ranked teams in Florida and transferred it over to being tough in a great environment, which allowed us to be very confident on the court tonight.”
“We’re 1-0,” he concluded.
Roane State continues conference play Saturday with a 4:00 p.m. CST match-up at Jackson State Community College.
The team returns home Wednesday, Nov. 20 to host Cleveland State at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.
With the success of the “Pack the Gym” event tonight, Nesbit noted “We are very blessed with the support we have here.”
In addition to the pep bands, half time games, and other events surrounding the basketball games themselves, church groups may like to know that a brief church service will be held during half time of the women’s games in the college’s Raider Room during each Wednesday night contest.
Roane State Community College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, ethnicity or national origin, sex, disability, age, status as protected veteran or any other class protected by Federal or State laws and regulation and by Tennessee board of Regents policies with respect to employment, programs, and activities. View full non-discrimination policy.