For Immediate Release – 1/25/17 - #165
Jacoby's Late Game Heroics Gives 'Cats 63-62 Historic win over H-SC

HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, VA – Reid Jacoby hit a jumper with seven seconds, putting the Randolph College men's basketball team up two against Hampden-Sydney College on Wednesday.  The Tigers still had a chance to tie it, making one free throw.  However, the shooter was iced, and the WildCats sealed the 63-62 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) win.

The win marked a historic occasion for the WildCats as well, with it being the first in program history at Hampden-Sydney College.

Points were tough to come by at the beginning of the game.  H-SC took an initial 5-0 lead, before Chase VanHorn scored.  The Tigers made it 7-2 at the 13:16 mark, showing the stellar play of both defenses.  However, that basket started an explosion for both teams, as Colton Lee got it going with a three.  The hosts made it 11-5 soon after, but the 'Cats began to chip away.

Nick Goble tallied four-straight.  After a Tiger basket, Jeremiah Davis finished a layup, but Javonte Reddick hit a three.  However, Ryan Fields tallied six of the next eight (with teammate Brian Smith tallying the other two), giving the WildCats a 19-16 lead.  A single free throw temporarily stopped the run, but VanHorn, Davis (four), and Jacoby all scored in a row, pushing the lead to 10.  However, H-SC used a late 6-1 run, notching the score at 28-23 entering the half.

Hampden-Sydney kept its momentum going in the second stanza, scoring nine of the first 12 points, and taking a narrow lead back.  However, Randolph responded right back with a burst of its own. Jacoby hit a three, with the hosts only hitting a free throw.  Lee then knocked down a three, and Jacoby finished a conventional three-point play, putting the advantage at 40-33.

H-SC answered as well, cutting the deficit to one (40-39).  It set up a pattern that would last the rest of the game.  Lee and Jacoby extended the lead to four, but Reddick hit a three.  Goble hit a layup, but Reddick hit another three, tying the score at 47.  Jacoby hit a three, before the hosts hit two from the charity stripe.  Smith was fouled on a three, and made all three from the line, which Jacoby followed with two of his own.

The six-point lead went to four, before Jacoby hit another jumper.  It shrunk back down to one with 2:17 on the clock as Reddick made a layup.  Davis scored, but Reddick tied the game again at 59-all with another make from behind the arc.  Davis finished off a pass from Smith, but Justin Reid tied it again at 61 with only 14 seconds left.

However, it set up Jacoby's heroics.  He made the shot and Logan Samuels went to the line to tie things with only one second on the clock.  After making the first, Randolph called a timeout, and he could not connect on the second, giving the WildCats the win.

Jacoby finished with 22 points, tallying 19 in the second half.  He added five assists, while Davis scored 12 off the bench.  Reddick scored 18 for the Tigers (7-11 overall, 3-6 ODAC). 

Randolph (7-11, 4-5) returns home on Saturday for an important ODAC clash.  The 'Cats host Shenandoah University (6-12, 2-7) at 2 p.m.  The coaching staffs of both teams will wear sneakers, as the game serves as the NABC Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers game for the WildCats.

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