LYNCHBURG, VA – No. 24 Randolph College battled back from a double-digit deficit in the second half to take a lead but couldn't hold on as the WildCats fell for the first time in 2012-13 with a 72-66 loss to Virginia Wesleyan College Saturday afternoon in action from the Batten Center.

                Virginia Wesleyan (10-4/6-0 ODAC) took an 11-point lead at the 12:24 mark of the first half as Art Crew made a jumper to make the score 21-10. VWC would up its edge to 13 with two minutes left, but seven points from sophomore James Fitzgerald, Jr. (Fredericksburg, VA/Courtland) over the last 1:37 helped Randolph (13-1/5-1 ODAC) pull to within nine at the half.

                About five minutes into the second half and with the WildCats down by ten, Randolph would mount a furious comeback. With the score at 47-37 in favor of the Marlins, the WildCats went on a 13-1 capped by a Fitzgerald jumper to give Randolph a 50-48 advantage with 8:57 remaining.

                Virginia Wesleyan regained the lead with just over six minutes to play on a three-point play from Colby Heard. Randolph would cut the advantage to one with 3:20 to play after a triple from Mike Ehilegbu (Raleigh, NC/Ravenscroft), but the Marlins pushed their edge back up to four and were able to secure the contest from the charity stripe.

                Senior guard Colton Hunt (Whitter, NC/Ravenscroft) scored a game-high 29 points, making seven-of-eight from the line while grabbing a game-best eight rebounds. Fitzgerald had a career-high nine points on four-of-four shooting, and Chris Battaglia (Smithfield, VA/Portsmouth) chalked up seven points and eight boards. Corey Brown (Williamsburg, VA/Walsingham) added eight points for Randolph, who shot 40.3 percent (25-62) from the field, but just three-of-17 from deep.

Virginia Wesleyan had three players in double digits, as Chris Teasley, Tre Ford and Cameron Owens all had 11 points. Ford added seven rebounds and four assists, while Heard and Sedric Nady each had nine points on three-of-four shooting. VWC shot 24-of-51 (47.1 percent) from the floor, and won the rebounding battle 37-31.

                The WildCats will return to action Wednesday evening for another big game, as they travel to Guilford College for an Old Dominion Athletic Conference tip with the Quakers in Ragan-Brown Field House.  

--RANDOLPH--