LEXINGTON, Va.- Visiting Randolph led for all but 23 seconds of the game as four starters scored in double figures and the WildCats defeated Washington and Lee 89-68 on Wednesday night. The WildCats move to 3-4 overall and 1-1 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and W&L drops to 5-3 and 1-2 in the conference.
The story of night was Randolph's shooting performance as it was 30-of-54 from the field. The WildCats were 15-of-22 from beyond the three –point arc for a season-high 68.2%.
"I'm proud of the guys for how hard we battled tonight," said head coach Pete Hamilton. "Coach McHugh does an excellent job of having his guys play with an up-tempo pace that can really pile up on teams if you're not locked in. Our guys stayed focused throughout - I think our transition defense made a huge difference."
Curtis Mitchell had the Generals opening basket 10 seconds into the game. Jerry Goodman (Suffolk, Va./Portsmouth Christian School) responded with a three 23 seconds later and Randolph never trailed again. The WildCat lead steadily grew throughout the half as a 14-4 run put the 'Cats up 25-12 with 10:32 remaining. Randolph's double-digit lead got to as much as 20 points, 41-21, with 3:18 to play in the half and the WildCats still had a comfortable lead at the break 43-28.
The Generals would storm back early on in the second half. A 15-4 W&L run suddenly made it a two-possession game, 51-45, with 14:54 showing on the clock. The WildCats made sure that was as close as Washington and Lee got as it ran off a 13-4 run to jump ahead 64-49 with 11:08 remaining. The Generals twice got to within 10 points but Randolph stayed out in front for the remained of the half as victory was clearly in hand.
Goodman and Brian Smith (Dumfries, Va./C.D. Hylton) both scored 17 points on the evening. Goodman was perfect from the field as he was 6-of-6 overall and 5-of-5 in three-point shots. He dished out four assists and grabbed two rebounds. Smith had a game-high seven assists to go with his five rebounds.
CJ Loving (Madison Heights, Va./Amherst County) tallied 14 points, four rebounds, and two steals. Zach Hinton (Manassas, Va./Stonewall Jackson) and Justin Lowe (Reidsville, N.C./Reidsville) chipped in 12 points each.
"As I've said before, when we can look at the box and see such balanced scoring it's a great testament to our guys and the way we want to play, noted Hamilton. "Jerry Goodman broke out tonight and I don't think there's a guy in our locker room that was surprised. He's an elite shooter and when he can help us finish good offensive possessions the way he did tonight, we can be really good."
Randolph returns to the RAD to host Roanoke this Saturday. Game time is at 2:00 p.m.
"Getting an ODAC win is great, stated Hamilton. "Getting a road ODAC win is something our guys should be proud of. Time to get back to work tomorrow as we've got another challenging test this weekend at home."
