FREDERICKSBURG, Va.- The Randolph men's basketball team played #23 Mary Washington on Saturday afternoon. The WildCats led the Eagles at halftime but UMW would outscore the 'Cats 52-33 in the second half on their way to a 74-67 win.
"Tough fight tonight," said head coach Pete Hamilton. "We really lost it physically to finish the game and UMW took advantage of it. They kept driving the ball very determined and we just weren't able to keep that intent on stopping it early. I think that early on ball defense is what jumped us to the lead to start the game - needed it a few more minutes tonight."
Randolph came out on first in the half on fire as it raced out to a 23-2 lead at the 10:19 mark. The Eagles came back to close to nine points with a 14-2 run and made the score 25-16 Randolph. The WildCats pushed their lead up to 14 points with a three and jump shot by Danny Bickey (Beckley, W.V./Woodrow Wilson). Mary Washington closed to within 10 points but the WildCats went into halftime ahead 34-22.
In the second half, UMW started with a 10-2 run to cut the score to 36-32. Randolph was able to restore its lead to double digits with a 12-5 run and Bickey supplying nine of those points as the WildCats were up 48-37 with 13:03 showing on the game clock.
A 12-3 Eagle run made it a one-possession game, 51-49, with under 10 minutes remaining. The WildCats would up their lead once again with the score standing at 62-52 with 7:20 left. A 14-0 run by the hosts, however, put Mary Washington ahead for the first time all day as they went up 66-62 with 2:37 remaining to play.
Trailing by eight points with 51 ticks left, Bickey drained a three to get the WildCats to within five points with 40 seconds left. Randolph looked to cut the Eagle lead but missed a three-point attempt with 20 seconds remaining and UMW sank a pair of free throws in the waning seconds to secure the win.
Overall, the WIldCats were 23-of-57 (40.4%) from the floor and 14-of-34 (41.2) from behind the three-point arc. The Eagles were 25-of-58 (43.1%) and 8-of-25 (32%) in three-point attempts. Randolph had a slight edge in rebounds, 37-35.
Bickey led the 'Cats with 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting and was good on 7-of-12 three-point shots. He also came down with seven rebounds. Jerry Goodman (Suffolk, Va./Portsmouth Christian School) added 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting and was 4-of-8 from behind the three-point arc.
"Was good to get Bickey rolling and our guys were extremely unselfish continuing to find actions for him when he was hot," said Hamilton. "Jerry made some big shots for us and drove pressure well when they ramped it up. I thought some guys came off the bench and lifted us defensively and just from an execution standpoint. Kyle Ferguson played well on ball, took some great shots for us and played 14 minutes in a very physical game without turning it over. Ty Clingerman had 5 assists off the bench and helped us in stretches when we went zone."
Randolph will next play William and Mary in an exhibition this coming Wednesday December 21.
"Unfortunately what we're feeling now is the effects of not handling business in earlier games where we feel we didn't perform our best," Hamilton said. "It is tough to drop this one but it's harder for us mentally right now because of a few earlier games that were disappointments. We've got to find a way to keep improving and peak in February."
