LYNCHBURG, Va.- Leading by as much as 19 points in the first half, the Randolph men's basketball team looked to have an easy night against visiting Shenandoah on Thursday night at Giles Gymnasium. The Hornets rallied to cut their deficit to single digits in the second half but the WildCats hung on in the end as they won 79-74.
The win improves Randolph's record to 2-4 overall and 1-3 in the ODAC. SU drops to 0-4 overall and in the conference.
"Total team win tonight," said head coach Pete Hamilton after the game. "I thought Tuesday at Roanoke we were ready to roll out of the gates but our focus really killed us in the second half. We challenged our guys to keep that passion tonight but improve on the focus throughout. We ended up being shaky at times but the guys found something within them to hold on when it mattered most."
The WildCats scored 11 straight points to begin the game. The Randolph lead grew to 19 points, 25-16, with 12:43 showing on the game clock. Trailing by 16 points with 9:08 remaining in the half, the Hornets went on an 11-2 run to close to within seven points, 31-25, with 4:04 left in the period. The 'Cats were able to restore its double-digit advantage as it went on an 11-3 run to go into halftime ahead 42-27.
Randolph matched its biggest lead three times with the final occurrence coming at the 12:43 mark. A 15-3 Shenandoah run closed the gap to seven points, 60-53, with 8:45 remaining in game time. The WildCats got back up ahead by 16 points, 69-53, with 6:02 left.
A 19-4 Hornet run erased the big Randolph lead and cut the deficit to one point, 73-72 with 48 seconds remaining. The WildCats answered as Jerry Goodman (Suffolk, Va./Portsmouth Christian School) nailed a three-point bucket with 25 ticks left to give Randolph a 76-72 lead. After a missed Shenandoah jumper with 12 ticks remaining, the Hornets had to foul and the 'Cats sank three of four attempts to seal the win.
"Jerry Goodman was absolutely huge tonight," said Hamilton. "He played through some physicality and showed his ability to step up and make winning plays. His three in the corner to put us up four points with 20 seconds to go – I think everyone on our bench knew it was going down. That's the kind of player Jerry is – confident, calm and a great shooter that can make teams pay for the over help on Dula and CJ."
The WildCats shot 40% (24-of-60) on the evening and were 12-of-27 from behind the three-point arc going 4-of-7 (57.145) in the second half alone. The team had a slight edge in rebounds 45-44.
"Our pace was the central reason we won the game tonight," noted Hamilton. "The quick start came from getting it off the glass, playing with pace, and sharing the ball while we did it. Awesome to see 19 assists on the box score with four players having 3+ assists. Our 3's were great looks and a lot of them came from the "one more" pass we work on. All extremely selfless basketball on the offensive end."
Three Randolph starters reached double figures led by Goodman's 16 points, which all came in the second half. He was 4-of-7 from the field with all four baskets coming via three pointers. Jordan Phillips-McLoyd (Johnson City, Tenn./Science Hill) added 14 points, five rebounds, and five assists going 4-of-5 in three-pointers. CJ Loving (Madison Heights, Va./Amherst County) secured a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Evan Makle (Dumfries, Va./Christ Chapel Academy) put up 16 points off the bench and grabbed eight rebounds. Justin Dula (Taylorsville, N.C./Alexander Central) finished with nine points, six rebounds, five assists, and three blocked shots.
"Feels great to get a conference W," noted Hamilton. "Feels even better when the entire team got the job done for us."
The WildCats will return to action on Tuesday night as they host Ferrum. Game time will be at 7:00 p.m.
