LYNCHBURG, Va.- Visiting Lynchburg made the short trip across town to the Randolph campus as the WildCats and Hornets faced off against each other on Wednesday evening. The Hornets were too much for the 'Cats in the end as they won 88-64.
Randolph's overall record now stands at 4-13 and 1-8 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Lynchburg improves to 11-5 overall and 5-2 in the ODAC.
The WildCats had a 11-9 lead with 15:49 remaining in the first half. A 12-1 run by Lynchburg put the visitors ahead 23-10 with 10:50 left on the clock. Randolph chipped into the Hornet lead with a 12-2 run to close to within three points, 27-24, with 2:51 remaining in the half. The Lynchburg lead was just six points, 34-28, at the break.
Lynchburg started the second half with a quick five points to go ahead 39-28. Randolph closed to 47-39 after a three-point basket by Jerry Goodman (Suffolk, Va./Portsmouth Christian School) at 15:55. That was as close as the WildCats would get as the Hornets' 16-7 run staked them to a 19-point advantage, 65-46, with 8:46 remaining in regulation. Randolph did cut its deficit to 11 points, 69-58, at the six minute mark but the Hornets 19-6 run put down the WildCat rally.
"This one really got away from us but it feels a lot closer than it ended," said head coach Pete Hamilton after the game. "I thought we competed the way we wanted to against a very physical and seasoned team. Those guys have some good pieces and we did a nice job during the first half and in spurts in the second half of limiting their go-to stuff. The 16 to 12 minute stretch in the second got us and we just weren't able to fully climb out of it. I think we had a few too many turnovers and gave Lynchburg some buckets they really like during that stretch."
Randolph shot 33% overall (22-of-66) and from behind the three-point arc (10-of-30). The team was 10-of-17 from the free throw line. Lynchburg was 30-of-71 (42.3%) from the floor and 14-of-33 (42.4%) in three-point attempts. The Hornets converted 14-of-19 (73.7%) from the charity stripe.
"Despite the tough stretch, we had our chances to cut it to single digits multiple times and just came up short either with some open looks from 3 or from the free throw line, said Hamilton. "We've got guys that we all have full confidence in making some of those looks we got tonight and they just didn't go down. In my head, if we get a few of those great offensive possessions capped off by a made bucket we could have been in the conversation late and seen what happened."
Four of Randolph's five starters reached double digits led by Danny Bickey's (Beckley, W.V./Woodrow Wilson) 17. He also grabbed seven rebounds. CJ Loving (Madison Heights, Va./Amherst County) added 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists, one block, and one steal. Jordan Phillips-McLoyd (Johnson City, Tenn./Science Hill) scored 13 points. Goodman finished with 12 points. Landon Wagoner (Martinsville, Va./Carlisle School) had a team-high 12 rebounds.
"Landon Wagoner battled great tonight against an All-League player," noted Hamilton. "He had 12 boards and I thought played very physical on the defensive end. I had hoped we could have gotten Jerry going earlier but he had a great second half for us tonight. CJ started strong and I think we need to look at how we can continue that later into games as a coaching staff. He's a tough cover and we don't want to let teams off the hook guarding him."
Randolph travels to Roanoke on Saturday. Game time will be at 4:30 p.m.
