LYNCHBURG, VA — Randolph College junior guard Colton Hunt (Whittier, NC/Smoky Mountain) netted a career and program-best 32 points Sunday afternoon but the WildCat men's basketball team saw its quest of an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) title fall short with a 65-61 loss to No. 7 ranked Virginia Wesleyan College.

Hunt was named 2012 ODAC Tournament Most Valuable Player after scoring a tournament record 101 points in the tournament. He helped lead the WildCats to their second consecutive ODAC Tournament final, as did senior Derrick Woods-Morrow (Greensboro, NC/NE Guilford). Woods-Morrow was named to the All-Tournament Team for Randolph (15-14).

"I'm just proud of the guys for not giving up on the season, in January we were struggling but everyone showed a lot of resolve to fight through the adversity," said Hunt. "I'm just really proud of everybody and unfortunately we just couldn't get the result today."

The contest itself was a very entertaining affair, as Virginia Wesleyan (25-3) jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead after a three-pointer from Chris Teasley. VWC upped its lead to nine after a Ali Brown lay-up, but Randolph clawed back into the ball game, trimming the lead to one with 8:46 after a jumper from Hunt.

The WildCats would tie the game for the first time at 24, and took their first lead shortly before halftime on a strong layup from Woods-Morrow. Junior Cameron Colquitt (Mechanicsville, VA/Atlee) made a layup with under a minute to play to make the score 34-32 in favor of Virginia Wesleyan going into the break.

After the intermission, the Marlin lead hovered around four for most of the first part of the second half. That's when the WildCats would make their move, going on an 8-0 lead to take a 46-42 lead with 12:09 to play. VWC came right back with seven straight points to take a three-point edge at 49-46.

Down three with seven minutes to play, Hunt made a jumper to make the score 53-52. VWC edged out to a five point lead with 3:32 lead at 60-55, but a lay-up from Zach Desgain (Richmond, VA/J.R. Tucker) made it a three-point Marlin advantage. Hunt followed with a lay-up with 1:44 left to pull Randolph to within one.

After a timeout from VWC, Teasley missed a three but the rebound was corralled by DJ Woodmore. After the Marlins ran almost the entire shot clock down, Woodmore missed a three but another offensive rebound forced Randolph to foul. Unfortunately for the WildCats, the foul came as Teasley was making a lay-up, and the ensuing free throw put the Marlins up four.

Desgain made a layup with eight seconds left, but Woodmore made free throws to extend the lead to four. Randolph couldn't pull closer, and the Marlins held on for the ODAC title. Hunt posted his tournament high 32 points on 11-of-26 shooting, making nine-of-ten from the floor. He also corralled nine rebounds.

Woods-Morrow posted a double-double in his last collegiate game, racking up 15 points and 11 boards, going six-of-nine from the floor. Desgain had six points and eight rebounds in playing all 40 minutes. Head Coach Clay Nunley had some heartfelt words to share after the game.

"I'm very impressed by our willingness to play for each other, not just today but over the course of a season, especially in the last six to seven weeks," said Nunley. "Sometimes you do everything right and you don't get the final result and I think today that was the case. We lost to a quality team but it wasn't for lack of effort or lack of heart. I'm very proud of our group."

Virginia Wesleyan was led by Teasley, who finished with 14 points on five-of-10 shooting, while Woodmore posted 13 points and seven rebounds. Donald Vaughn also had 12 points, five rebounds, four steals and two blocks for the Marlins, who turned the ball over only three times all game. VWC advances to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth straight season.

Randolph finishes the season with a 15-14 record, marking its second consecutive winning season in only the program's fifth year of existence.