RALEIGH, N.C.- The Randolph men's basketball team played its second straight game in North Carolina as the Wildcats faced William Peace on Wednesday evening. The WildCats trailed by 17 late in the first quarter but came all the back led by Danny Bickley's (Beckley, W.V./Woodrow Wilson) 25 points to win 80-73.
The score stood at 15-14 in the Pacers' favor with 12:12 showing on the game clock in the first half. William Peace then went on a 26-10 run spanning over eight minutes of game time to lead 41-24 with under four minutes remaining. Randolph cut the deficit down with a 13-0 run to close out the half and trail only by four points 41-37.
Randolph continued its run into the second half with baskets by Ryan Davis (Erlanger, KY/Lloyd Memorial) and Bickey to tie the game at 41-41. William Peace briefly took the lead at 45-43 but a three by Bickey gave the WildCats a one-point advantage 46-45. After the Pacers knotted the game at 46-46, Bickey responded again for the 'Cats with another three to make it a 49-46 contest. That started a 10-1 run for the WildCats which put them ahead 58-47 at the 14:02 mark.
The Pacers slowly chipped away at the Randolph advantage and made it a two-possession game, 64-58, with 8:48 remaining to play. Six straight points by the WildCats put their lead up to 12 but a six-point run by William Peace cut the Randolph advantage back to six points, 70-64, with under three minutes left to play. The Pacers closed to within five points, 78-73, with 20 seconds left but Bickey sank a pair of free throws to ice the game and secure the win for Randolph.
"What a second half," said head coach Pete Hamilton. "Peace did a great job of finding a rhythm early and we weren't tough enough to guard and make it uncomfortable for them in the first half. I couldn't be more proud of our guys for taking a look in the mirror when we were down 17 with 3:30 to go in the first. Ty Clingerman, Ryan Viruso, Danny Bickey, Amari Gorham and Landon Wagoner came out of that timeout and closed the half on a +13 in the final 3:30 and finished it with a 9-0 run to get us some juice. In the second I thought we defended our tails off. I know we made some shots but our presence was phenomenal to give us confidence on the other end. The ball started popping for us and led to great looks. Finishing with 16 assists and five turnovers is something we'd love to duplicate every night."
The WildCats shot 40-of-70 (42.9%) from the floor and was 7-of-18 (38.9%) from behind the three-point arc. Randolph also performed well at the charity stripe with a 13-of-16 (81.3%) performance. The Pacers were 25-of-52 (48.1%) in overall shooting and 10-of-24 (41.7%) in three-point shooting.
Randolph led in points off turnovers (18-6), second chance points (18-8), points in the paint (34-26), and bench points (23-14)
Bickey led all scorers with his 25 points on 8-of-18 shooting. He also finished with five rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Landon Wagoner (Martinsville, Va./Carlisle School) added 12 points and seven rebounds. Amari Gorham (Yorktown, Va./Yorktown) scored 11 points.
"Bickey, obviously there's a reason the dude is an all-league player," stated Hamilton. "His teammates did a heck of a job when he got hot to help him. Really great to see Landon exert himself offensively for us in stretches tonight. We'll need that moving forward."
The WildCats are back in the Tar Heel State on Saturday as they take on Greensboro. Game time will be at 4:00 p.m.
