GREENSBORO, N.C- The Randolph men's basketball traveled down to North Carolina on Wednesday for a midweek contest with Greensboro College. The WildCats held off a late Pride rally to win 63-58.
Randolph improves its record to 2-1 overall. Greensboro drops to 0-2.
The WildCats trailed 18-14 just around the midway point of the first half and eventually trailed 23-14 with 8:21 showing on the game clock. An 11-2 run by the WildCats, however, would tie the game at 25-25 with 3:07 remaining in the period. The score would be tied 32-32 at halftime.
It would be a tussle back and forth in the early goings of the second half. Trailing 47-46 with 8:49 to play in regulation, the 'Cats used a 13-2 run to lead 59-49 with 4:21 left to play. Greensboro quickly responded with a 9-2 run to close to within three points, 61-58, with 1:37 left. The teams exchanged missed three-point baskets. A missed three by the Pride with 15 seconds remaining forced Greensboro to commit a foul to regain possession. Danny Bickey (Beckley, W.V./Woodrow Wilson) went to the line and made both of his free throw attempts to give Randolph a 63-58 lead. GC turned the ball over in the waning seconds as the WildCats walked away with the victory.
Randolph shot 25-of-63 (39.7%) from the floor on the night while Greensboro was 23-of-69 (33.3%). The WildCats were 10-of-15 from the charity stripe compared to the Pride's 6-of-12 (50%) performance.
Both teams had 39 rebounds. Randolph had a 30-24 edge in the paint and outscored Greensboro's bench 22-17.
"Poise through chaos was our scout theme tonight," said head coach Pete Hamilton after the game. "I'm exhausted from the battle - very proud of the guys for finding poise late to complete the road win. I don't think we were perfect by any means - but we stuck with it which is the most telling."
CJ Loving (Madison Heights, Va./Amherst County) scored 18 points to lead the WildCats. He also pulled down seven rebounds and came away with two steals. Jerry Goodman (Suffolk, Va./Portsmouth Christian School) added 12 points. Evan Makle (Dumfries, Va./Christ Chapel Academy) scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds. Landon Wagoner (Martinsville, Va./Carlisle School) had nine rebounds.
"CJ Loving was a vet tonight," noted Hamilton. "He produced when we were reeling and hit 2 huge FT's down the stretch. His voice was excellent all night and his leadership was certainly something that got us to the finish line. Really proud of the effort, energy and play making that Jerry has given us the past two games. Because of how Greensboro pressures, sometimes the best play is the break it and go get a paint touch. Jerry did a graft job handling some high level pressure all night and only had one turnover doing it."
Randolph faces Division I Elon this coming Friday in North Carolina. Game time will be at 7:00 p.m.
