LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph men's basketball team opened conference play on Wednesday night as the WildCats hosted Guilford. The WildCats were able to cut down a big Quaker halftime lead but fell short in the end as GC won 89-76.
The Quakers scored the first six points of the game to lead 6-0 before Randolph's first basket at 17:07. The Guilford lead soon expanded to 11 points, 18-7, with 12:49 remaining in the first half. Randolph closed to a two-possession game, 20-14, with 10:43 showing on the game clock. Guilford used a 14-2 run to go ahead 34-16 with under six minutes remaining in the half. The lead soon became 20 points at the 4:38 mark. The Quakers maintained their 20 point lead, 52-32, going into the break.
Guilford took its biggest lead of the night, 63-42, with 13:42 to play in the period. The WildCats used a 16-5 run, with Randolph hitting three straight three-point baskets, to come all the way back and cut the Quaker advantage to nine points, 68-59, with just under seven minutes remaining in the contest. Guilford soon built its lead back up to double digits going up 78-64 with 4:03 remaining to play. The WildCats again rallied to fight their way back in with a 10-3 run to close to within eight points, 81-73, with 2:07 showing on the clock. The Quakers, however, used an 8-3 run in the end to hold off the WildCats.
"Through the disappointment, I am proud of the character and grit we showed to claw back and stay the course after a first half that didn't look too much like us," said head coach Pete Hamilton after the game. "We were able to cut it to single digits with plenty of time remaining – I think one or two shots or calls flip right at that time and we might have been able to earn a shot down the stretch. That just needs to go and show us that waiting to respond in the ODAC is typically too late."
Overall, Randolph shot nearly 51% (28-of-55) from the floor. The WildCats had a strong second half as they were hitting over 58% (14-of-24) of their shots in the second half and 54.5% (6-of-11) from behind the three-point arc. Guilford was 34-of-70 (48.6%) in field goal shooting on the evening and 14-of-32 (43.8%) in three-point shooting.
"We took too many on the chin to start tonight," noted Hamilton. "I think we have got to do a better job of being prepared to walk into an ODAC game and we'll certainly be figuring out how to solve that equation better as a coaching staff."
Jordan Phillips-McLoyd (Johnson City, Tenn./Science Hill) led the WIldCats with 17 points. Seth Hildebrand (Evington, Va./Liberty Christian) added 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting to go with seven rebounds. Jerry Goodman (Suffolk, Va./Portsmouth Christian School) chipped in 11 points. CJ Loving (Madison Heights, Va./Amherst County) dished out eight assists. The Randolph bench outscored Guilford's 33-15.
Randolph heads on the road Saturday to Washington and Lee. Game time from Lexington is at 2:00 p.m.
"We'll need better activity defensively and much better purpose offensively this weekend to try and get back to level in league play," said Hamilton.
