FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.- The Randolph men's basketball traveled to Methodist on Friday evening for a late week tilt with the Monarchs. The WildCats recovered from dropping a first half lead as they came back to defeat Methodist 67-64.

Randolph's 2-0 start to the season is its first since 2018-19.

Methodist had an early lead in the first half, 18-13, with 12:05 showing on the game clock. With the Monarchs holding a 22-18 lead with 9:15 remaining in the half, Randolph would go on to outscore Methodist 21-6 the rest of the way as the WildCats led 39-28 at halftime. The 'Cats shot just under 52% (14-of-27) from the floor in the period.

In the second half, the Monarchs came out of the locker room on fire as it started off with a 16-3 run to lead 44-42 at 14:37. The WildCats were able to tie the game twice but an 8-0 Methodist run gave the home team a 54-46 advantage with just nine minutes remaining to play. The Methodist lead was still eight points, 58-50, with under seven minutes left as Randolph tried to reduce its deficit and get back out in front.

The WildCats were able to turn it around as it used 14-4 run to come back and go ahead 63-62 with 2:22 left on the clock. Jordan Phillips-McLoyd (Johnson City, Tenn./Science Hill) accounted for seven of Randolph's points to help key the comeback effort in the run. Methodist took the lead back on a layup by Greg Ehlinger with 1:46 left in regulation. A foul on the Monarchs put Phillips-McLoyd on the free throw line and he sank both attempts to put the 'Cats ahead 65-64 with 1:43 remaining. Phillips-McLoyd then grabbed the rebound off a missed Monarch layup and looked to give Randolph a two-possession lead. After a missed three-point attempt, Phillips-McLoyd had another shot after a WildCat offensive rebound and sank the three-pointer with 42 ticks left to put Randolph on top 67-64. Methodist looked for a potential game-tying three-point basket with seconds remaining but the last-ditch attempt was off the mark as Randolph walked away with the win.

Both teams were nearly identical in field goal percentage in the end as Randolph was 22-of-54 (40.7%) to Methodist's 28-of-65 (40%). Both schools were good on 33.3% of their three-point attempts. The Monarchs led in rebounds 41-32.

Landon Wagoner (Martinsville, Va./Carlisle School) and Phillips-McLoyd both finished with 13 points with all of Phillps-McLoyd's points coming in the second half. Wagoner added nine rebounds and three steals. Phillips-McLoyd had four rebounds and three assists. Amari Gorham (Yorktown, Va./Yorktown) added 12 points. Evan Wiehe (Cleveland, OH/Nordonia) had nine points.

Randolph hosts its home opener next Saturday against William Peace. Game time from Giles Gymnasium will be at 4:00 p.m.