LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph men's basketball team hosted Eastern Mennonite on Saturday afternoon in a rematch from January 11 which Randolph won 62-56. It was a tight contest throughout but the visiting Royals were on the winning end as they came away with a 70-63 victory.

Neither team led by more than eight points as it was neck and neck throughout the contest. There was a total of 10 lead changes and 16 ties. The game was scoreless for the first 2:33 until EMU's Tie Evans hit a jumper to put the Royals ahead. Randolph's biggest lead in the half was four points, 19-15, with 5:15 remaining. Eastern Mennonite would jump ahead by four, 28-24, with 37 seconds showing on the game clock. A pair of three throws by CJ Loving (Madison Heights, Va./Amherst County) cut the EMU lead down to 28-26 at halftime.

The second half played out much as the first as neither team could sustain a sizeable run. Randolph trailed for the majority of the period as it tried to overtake the Royals. EMU was able to distance itself from the 'Cats as it led 58-51 with 5:42 left.

 The WildCats were able to narrow to three points, 58-55, with 4:11 remaining in regulation but the Royals used a 5-0 run to take the biggest lead of day, 63-55, at 2:11. Randolph could get as close as six points but Eastern Mennonite was 5-of-6 from the free throw line in the final 35 seconds as it held off the WildCats.

The two teams were nearly identical in shooting percentage as Eastern Mennonite was 22-0f-49 (44.9%) and Randolph 23-of-55 (41.8%). Both teams had 35 rebounds. The WildCats did enjoy an advantage in second chance points (18-10), bench points (22-17), and points in the paint.

Zach Hinton (Manassas, Va./Stonewall Jackson) led Randolph with 13 points on the day. Loving added 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting and also picked up eight rebounds and three assists. Justin Dula (Taylorsville, N.C./Alexander Central) had his third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go with three assists, two blocks, and one steal.

Eastern Mennonite improves to 5-15 overall and 3-8 in the ODAC. Randolph drops to 7-13 and 3-8 in the conference.

The WildCats head across town to the University of Lynchburg to face their cross-city rivals on Wednesday night. Game time will be at 7:00 p.m. Randolph lost to the Hornets earlier in the season 82-69.