LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph men's basketball team hosted Washington and Lee in on Old Dominion Athletic Conference game on Wednesday night. The Generals led for the whole contest as they defeated the WildCats 81-65.
W&L got out to an 8-0 lead in the opening minutes of the first half. Randolph closed to within three points, 8-5, with under 16 minutes showing on the game clock. The Generals used a 14-5 run to go ahead 22-10 with 11:17 left in the half. The lead grew to as much as 17 points at 6:52 but the WildCats were able to chip away at their deficit. Randolph was down 40-27 with 2:41 on the clock before using a 9-3 run to close the gap to seven points, 43-36, at halftime.
Randolph got to within four points following a three-point basket by Brian Smith (Dumfries, Va./C.D. Hylton) just over two minutes into the second half. Washington and Lee upped its lead but the 'Cats stayed within reach and once again trailed by four points, 55-51, with under 12 minutes to play in regulation.
The game turned with the Generals' 15-5 run spanning over four minutes of game time and were ahead 73-56 with 7:27 left to play. Randolph could get no closer than 10 points as W&L stayed out in front to the end of the game.
W&L was 30-of-57 (52.6%) overall and 14-of-29 (48.3%) from behind the three-point arc. Randolph shot 25-of-60 (41.7%) and was 6-of-20 (30%) in three-point attempts.
Washington and Lee led in rebounds 40-28. The Generals did commit 17 turnovers compared to 10 for the WildCats which Randolph turned into 20 points. The WildCats also had a small advantage in paint 34-32 and in bench points 17-16.
CJ Loving (Madison Heights, Va./Amherst County) led Randolph with 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Smith and Jerry Goodman (Suffolk, Va./Portsmouth Christian School) both scored 13 points. AJ Marshall (Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary Prep) added 10 points in 15 minutes off of the bench. Justin Dula (Taylorsville, N.C./Alexander Central) finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
Randolph returns to action next Wednesday when it travels to Hampden-Sydney. Game time will be at 7:00 p.m.
