LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph men's basketball team hosted William Peace on Wednesday night at the RAD Center. The WildCats shot 60% from the floor on the evening as they came away with an 85-76 victory.
William Peace scoring the game's opening basket to grab the first lead but a three-point basket by Jerry Goodman (Suffolk, Va./Portsmouth Christian School) gave Randolph a 3-2 advantage. The WildCats held a lead for over five minutes of game time and only dropped it briefly at 13:02 as the score stood at 18-17 in WPU's favor. A 13-2 WildCat run spotted the home team ahead 30-20 with just over nine minutes remaining in the half. The Pacers came back to cut its deficit to three points, 36-33, with 2:34 to play in the frame. Justin Dula (Taylorsville, N.C./Alexander Central) scored seven straight points to up Randolph's lead back to 10 points, 43-33, with 1:02 remaining. A three pointer from William Peace's Camden Ferguson knocked the lead to seven with 53 ticks left where the score stood at halftime.
Randolph's lead remained in the single digits for close to seven and a half minutes of the second half. The Pacers twice got to within three points to tying. The second time occurred at 14:14 but the 'Cats went on a 9-1 run to go up 61-50 at 12:01. Once again, the Pacer closed in as they trailed 61-57 with 10:05 to play.
It was a one-possession game as Randolph hung on to a 67-64 lead with 6:08 left to go. Randolph's 11-4 run put it on top 78-68 with three minutes remaining. The Pacers could only get as close as seven points as the WildCats converted four free throws in under two minutes to come out with the win.
"Really proud of the resilience our guys showed tonight," said head coach Pete Hamilton after the game. "Peace does a great job of causing chaotic situations and speeding teams up. I think we fell into that trap for a few segments tonight but a credit to our leadership on the court as we were able to regroup and respond to finish the game. Guys like AJ Marshall, Evan Makle and RJ Walker were really looked to – especially when Jerry Goodman went down early. Those guys did a great job of just playing solid and with energy for us."
Four WildCats reached double-digits in scoring with two scoring over 20 points. Dula led with 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting. He also blocked six shots which set a new game record besting the previous mark of five by Chris Battaglia in 2013. Brian Smith (Dumfries, Va./C.D. Hylton) added 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Evan Makle (Dumfries, Va./Christ Chapel Academy) contributed 15 points and was a perfect 10-of-10 from the foul line. He pulled down six rebounds. CJ Loving (Madison Heights, Va./Amherst County) finished with 13 points on the night.
"Brian and Dula showed great leadership for us tonight – especially in the second half," noted Hamilton. "Many times in the second half we were able to trust those two guys to make a play for us. Brian hit some timely jumpers and the connection from Evan to Dula on the lob gave us a needed boost when it was tight."
Randolph was 4-of-9 (44.4%) from beyond the three-point arc with William Peace only shooting 8-of-38 (21.15). The WildCats led in points in the paint 44-32. The Pacers controlled the glass with a 44-31 advantage.
The WildCats travel east to Newport News this weekend to play in the CNU Classic. Randolph faces the preseason ranked #9 Captains at 7:30 pm on Friday.
