ROANOKE, Va.- The Randolph men's basketball team travelled to Roanoke for the penultimate regular season game on Wednesday night. The Maroons pulled away in the second half as they won by the score of 72-60.

The WildCats started off strong as they led 10-5 at 15:40. A 6-0 Maroon run put the home team ahead 15-13 but Randolph grabbed the lead on a Sammy Hooper (Richmond, Va./Midlothian) three pointer. Roanoke took the lead back on a Douglas Elk layup just a few seconds later.

The WildCats were able to get back up by three, 23-20, with 6:39 remaining in the half. Randolph's lead pushed to six points, 31-25, with just under four minutes to play in the period but an 11-0 Roanoke run to end the frame gave the Maroons a 36-31 lead at the break.

The Maroon advantage grew to 45-32 just over three minutes into the second half. Following a WildCat timeout, Randolph was able to cut the deficit to nine points, 45-36, at 14:21. It was a seven-point contest, 59-52, after Hooper converted a layup with 7:37 to play. A technical foul on Hooper, however, awarded two free throws to Roanoke's CJ Miles who made both and Josh Freund then scored on a layup to expand the Maroon lead to 63-52. Randolph could not close the gap to under 11 points as Roanoke was able to stay out in front.

"What a game," said Pete Hamilton. "That is what coaches describe when we talk about ODAC battles. Physical, fast, just a lot of effort. We played our tail off but didn't capitalize in some key spots. We missed 6-8 shots at the rim and had a few open looks from three during a few runs that I think could have changed the game."

Ryan Fields (Edgewood, Md./Loyola Blakefield) led the WildCats with 15 points and seven rebounds. Hooper added 14 points, six rebounds, four assists, and one steal. He was 4-of-9 from behind the three-point arc. Colton Lee (Raleigh, N.C./North Raleigh Christian Academy) chipped in nine points all on three-point baskets.

Both teams made 22 shots but Roanoke had fewer attempts (45) than Randolph did (62). The Maroons went to the charity stripe 24 times and made 21 shots while the 'Cats were 7-of-11 overall. For the second straight game, the Wildcats kept their turnovers at single digits with nine while they forced 15 Maroon mistakes.

"Another good job of limiting turnovers and Brian Smith (Dumfries, Va./C.D. Hylton) again stepped into a lead guard role nicely having five assists and one turnover," noted Hamilton. "Colton and Sammy combining for seven three's helped as they were extremely focused on shutting down Ryan's drives and isolated situations. Elijah Ford (Chantilly, Va./Chantilly) did a heck of a job battling who is probably the best player in our league offensively. He stood his ground and was extremely active causing many turnovers and coming up with three steals.

 Randolph returns to the RAD Center this Saturday as it hosts Virginia Wesleyan on Senior Day. Game time is at 2:00 p.m.