MIDDLETOWN, Pa.- The Randolph men's basketball team opened its 2021-22 season on Saturday afternoon as the WildCats faced Penn-State Harrisburg in the first game of the Lion's Tip-Off Tournament. The Lions defeated the 'Cats by the score of 86-59.
The WildCats came out shooting well in the opening minutes of the first half as Danny Bickey (Beckley, W.V./Woodrow Wilson) sank a pair of three-point shots to put the 'Cats ahead 6-4 at 18:30. PSU-Harrisburg used a 17-5 run to jump out ahead 25-15 with 8:45 remaining in the half. A three-point basket by Evan Makle (Dumfries, Va./Christ Chapel Academy) closed the gap to seven points, 33-26, with under five minutes remaining in the period. The Lions outscored the WildCats 11-6 the rest of the way to lead 44-32 at halftime.
PSU-Harrisburg kept up its double-digit lead in the second half. Randolph trailed 49-36 with 17:40 left to play in the half but the Lions used a 22-4 run to go out in front 71-40 for their biggest lead of the day.
"We struggled to get off our heels tonight," said head coach Pete Hamilton after the game. "From what we saw, I don't think we were prepared to play against 40 minutes of a zone and PSU Harrisburg did a great job of taking us out of our pace of play. Slow games are not in our favor and they used their length and physicality to slow us down tremendously on offense."
The Lions shot 32-of-62 (51.6%) from the floor and were 14-of-16 from the free throw line. Randolph was 20-of-55 (36.4%) in field goal shooting overall. The rebounding edge went to the Lions 38-33.
CJ Loving (Madison Heights, Va./Madison County) led the WIldCats with 15 points on 10-of-15 shooting, Makle added 14 points. Bickey finished with nine points. Landon Wagoner (Martinsville, Va./Carlisle School) and Joseph Peters (Forest, Va./Jefferson Forest) both grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
The WildCats face Mount Aloysius tomorrow afternoon on the second day of the tournament. Game time is at 1:00 p.m.
"I hope we can look at this one and take some positives," said Hamilton. "I hope we get some of those first game jitters out and move forward with more confidence and certainty on the floor."
