For immediate release – 1/13/2016 - #154
Desgain's Career-High Not Enough for Randolph

LYNCHBURG, VA – Zach Desgain scored a career-high 23 points for the Randolph College men's basketball team, but the WildCats fell to Lynchburg College 79-66 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action on Wednesday night.

The game started quickly for the hosts, as they jumped out to a 9-2 lead.  But the 'Cats weathered the storm and came right back.  Corey Brown knocked down a three before Ryan Fields finished a layup to cut the deficit to two.  Alex Graves answered on the other end, but Desgain helped with five points – two of his own and the other on a pass to Seth Wimbish – to grab a 12-11 Randolph lead.

The teams traded baskets, before Fields pushed the lead to two with a traditional three-point play.  The Hornets went on a four-point run with Graves and A.J. Hamilton scoring.  Josh Freund then tied the game with a pair from the charity stripe with 12:07 left.

Once again, LC scored four in a row.  Andy Toe made a strong move down low to stop it, but it was answered by a three from Zack Burnett on the other end.  Once again, Toe made a layup, but that was copied by the hosts. 

Brown and Desgain then hit threes but Graves had an and-one for the Hornets to keep the lead at two.  However, Lynchburg extended the lead and held on to a 10-point advantage, finishing the half at 40-30.

LC came out of the intermission the stronger of the two teams, pushing the lead to 14 after three-plus minutes.  Desgain stopped the run with two free throws and Fields followed it with another layup.  However, the Hornets came straight back with five points.

The sides then exchanged points for several minutes until a pair of Gordon Rogo free throws cut the disadvantage to 11, which was followed by Freund's pair to knock it down to nine. The two schools from the Hill City once again went back and forth until the 3:58 mark when Reid Jacoby knocked down a massive three-point field goal to bring the WildCats within eight.

Free throws were traded, but the Hornets went on a 7-0 run to seal the victory.

Desgain went 8-8 from the line in the game, and added five rebounds and three assists in the game.  Fields scored nine points and also grabbed five boards.  Graves notched a double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds for Lynchburg (10-4 overall, 3-2 ODAC).  Burnett scored a game-high 25 points.

Randolph (8-6, 2-3) comes back to the RAD Center on Saturday.  The WildCats take on Virginia Wesleyan College (9-5, 4-1) at 2 p.m. in the first game of men's and women's doubleheader.