LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph men's basketball team honored its three senior players and one assistant coach on Wednesday night as the WildCats hosted Ferrum. The Panthers pulled away from Randolph with a strong second half as they won 77-53.
Brian Smith (Dumfries, Va./C.D. Hylton) led the 'Cats with 13 points on the evening. He also reached the 1,000 point mark of his career and became the sixth player in program history to do so.
Ferrum led 8-1 early in the first half but the WildCats roared back with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 8-8 at 14:31. The Panthers would eventually go ahead by eight points, 19-11, with 7:50 remaining to play in the half. Randolph used a 10-3 run to close to within a point, 22-21 at 3:43. The Panthers were ahead 31-25 with 24 seconds left but a three by Smith as time expired slashed the WildCat deficit to three points, 31-28, at halftime.
The Panthers started the second half on a roll as they went on a 13-4 run to lead 44-32. Randolph closed to seven points, 44-37, but Ferrum used a 14-4 run to take its biggest lead of the night, 58-41, with 9:22 remaining. The WildCats were able to get to within 13 points but Ferrum's 15-4 run to close out broke the game open.
Randolph shot 17-of-64 (26.6%) from the floor but was only 3-of-26 (11.5%) from behind the three-point arc. Ferrum was 30-of-68 (44.1%) overall and 11-of-33 (33.3%) in three-point attempts.
Both teams committed 13 turnovers with Ferrum outscoring Randolph 10-8 in points off of turnovers. The Panthers had a slight edge in rebounds 47-46.
Justin Dula (Taylorsville, N.C./Alexander Central) had his third straight double-double as he scored 11 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to tie his season-best. Jerry Goodman (Suffolk, Va./Portsmouth Christian School) and Avery Payne (Charlotte, N.C./East Mecklenburg) both finished with seven points. Payne grabbed five rebounds. AJ Marshall (Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary) scored six points to go with six rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
Randolph travels to Roanoke to conclude the regular season on Saturday. Game time will be at 2:00 p.m.
