LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph men's basketball team hosted the University of Mary Washington on Monday night at Giles Gymnasium in the last game before Thanksgiving break. Randolph led for all but 1:10 of the game as the Eagles took a late lead in the second half to win 78-76.
The WildCats got off to a hot start as they led 11-0 in the first half. The Randolph lead grew to as much as 15 points, 21-6, with 11:34 to play. The 'Cats still held a double-digit lead at 34-23 with 5:39 remaining on the game clock. Mary Washington got a jump shot from Rashawn Cook and a three-point basket from Riley Welch to cut the Randolph advantage down to six points, 34-28 with 4:46 remaining. The Eagles whittled the WildCat lead to three points, 39-36, with 16 ticks left. A basket by Jordan Phillips-McLoyd (Johnson City, Tenn./Science Hill) with time winding down gave Randolph a 41-36 edge the half.
Randolph started to build its lead back up in the second half as it led 52-42 with 16:09 on the clock. UMW cut to within three points, 54-51, at 13:39. A Jerry Goodman (Suffolk, Va./Portsmouth Christian School) basket followed by a three by Evan Makle (Dumfries, Va./Christ Chapel Academy) made it a 59-51 game with 12:51 remaining.
The WildCat lead stood at 63-54 with 9:18 to play in the second half. A 16-6 run by the Eagles erased Randolph's lead as Mary Washington tied the game at 69-all with 2:35 remaining to play. The first lead for the Eagles on the night came with just under two minutes remaining. Makle answered for the WildCats with a three pointer with 1:34 left. The Eagles countered with a layup while Makle again gave the WildCats a one –point lead 74-73, with 45 seconds left. The lead changed hands three more times until a three by Dashawn Cook gave Mary Washington the lead for good, 78-76, with six seconds left. Randolph went down the court quickly looking for a potential game winning shot but ran out of time as the Eagles walked away with the victory.
"Extremely proud of our effort tonight," said head coach Pete Hamilton. "Hard to say sometimes when the scoreboard doesn't read the way you like it to – but that was a hell of a college basketball game. Those are the ones you want to be in, against a very quality basketball team – you just hope for one more miss to finish the game."
The WildCats shot 49.2% (30-of-61) from the floor on the evening while Mary Washington converted 46.3% (31-of-67) of its shots. Randolph was good on 40% (8-of-20) of its three-point attempts.
"I thought we guarded their stuff how we wanted to," noted Hamilton. "We held a guy who is coming off a 27 and 26 point game to 6 points tonight. I think they wanted to go to him to finish the game and we guarded the high action the way we worked on it – credit to Saunders for making the extra pass and to Cook for hitting a monster corner 3."
The 'Cats controlled the paint 38-32, led in second chance points 13-9, and 10-7 in points off turnovers. The rebounding edge went to Randolph 40-37.
Makle scored 24 points to lead the WildCats on 9-of-18 shooting. Phillips-McLoyd added 17 points, five rebounds, and five assists. CJ Loving (Madison Heights, Va./Amherst County) scored 10 points and dished out five assists. Landon Wagoner (Martinsville, Va./Carlisle School) added eight points and a team-best nine rebounds.
"Evan and Jordan gave us some big moments in the second half when we needed to steady the ship," stated Hamilton. "Those guys can hit a variety of shots and we were able to find them for 3's and in the mid-area when we needed to. Also very proud of Landon Wagoner's effort tonight. I challenged Landon to come out with energy and grit against a big UMW team and he did just that. Played some great minutes for us and was a difference maker getting 9 rebounds and having a nice blocked shot."
Randolph returns to the floor on December 1 as it opens conference play against Guilford. Game time will be at 7:00 p.m.
"It's no fun going into a little break on a loss" said Hamilton. "I do think we can grow from tonight and that our effort tonight puts us in a great position in a lot of games down the road if we can duplicate it."
