WINCHESTER, Va.- The Randolph men's basketball team returned to the hardwood for the first time in 2020 as they went on the road to take on Shenandoah. The WildCats led at halftime and for the majority of the second half but the Hornets rallied to overtake Randolph and win 71-65.
The Hornets improve to 5-7 overall and 2-1 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Randolph is now 5-8 overall and 1-3 in the conference.
SU led in the first half and were ahead 14-9 just under the 12 minute mark. Randolph went on a run and following a three-point basket from AJ Marshall (Lake Mary. Fla./Lake Mary Prep), were up 17-15 with 9:19 left in the half. The teams traded shots until back-to-back layups from Shenandoah gave it a 23-21 advantage. An 11-0 WildCat run spotted Randolph to a 33-23 lead with 3:51 showing on the clock. The Hornets got to within seven points but the WildCats made five free throws and a layup by Brian Smith (Dumfries, Va./C.D. Hylton) to lead 40-27 at the break.
Randolph continued to add to its lead in the second half as it was up 50-32 with 12:30 left to play. The Hornets slowly chipped away at their deficit and briefly got it to single digits. The Wildcats still led 60-48 with 7:05 to go following a three-point shot by Zach Hinton (Manassas, Va./Stonewall Jackson). Shenandoah then went on a 15-0 run to go ahead 63-60 with a little over three minutes left in regulation. A Smith trey tied to up at 63-all at 2:48 but an 8-2 Hornet run to close out the game, which included going 5-of-6 at the charity stripe, put away the WildCats.
"Disappointing for us today," said head coach Pete Hamilton. "Games after break there is always some rust to work through but I felt like we grinded through some sloppiness in the first half and came away with a comfortable lead. To be up 18 with 12 minutes to go is tough to swallow. Each of these ODAC games means a whole heck of a lot and we certainly let one get away today."
Shenandoah shot 26-of-60 (43.3%) from the floor compared to Randolph's 24-of-62 (38.7%). The WildCats led in the paint 36-34 but the Hornets got a boost from their bench as they received 39 points to Randolph's 14. Rebounds slightly favored Shenandoah 40-39.
Justin Dula (Taylorsville, N.C./Alexander Central) was a rebound short of a double-double as he had 19 points and nine rebounds. Hinton added 12 points and Smith 11 points. Evan Makle (Dumfries, Va./Christ Chapel Academy) grabbed eight rebounds to go with five points.
Randolph hosts its first game of the New Year on Wednesday as they welcome cross-city rival Lynchburg to the RAD. Game time will be at 7:00 p.m.
