FARMVILLE, Va.- The Randolph men's basketball team unofficially began its 2024-25 season on Monday evening as the WildCats faced Division I Longwood in an exhibition game for the 'Cats. The WildCats gave the Lancers a fight throughout the game but came up short as Longwood would win by the score of 79-68.

The Lancers started the game with a 4-0 lead but the WildCats took over the lead with a three-point basket by Cole Perry (Salisbury, N.C./Jesse Carson HS) and a jumper by Amari Gorham (Lynchburg, Va./E.C. Glass). The two teams exchanged leads for over five minutes. Longwood moved ahead 17-13 but a three by Timothy James Jr. (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem HS) cut the Lancer lead to one point. Longwood then went on a 12-5 run to take its biggest lead of the half, 29-21, with 3:28 remaining in the period. Randolph cut their deficit to three points but the Lancers pushed their lead up to seven points. Longwood would lead by eight points, 37-29, at half time.

Longwood added to its lead in the second half as it went ahead 42-31. The WildCats would not go away as they closed to within seven points, 46-39, with 17:08 remaining in the contest. A 9-3 Lancer run would put the home team up 55-42 with 13:05 to play. The WildCats were as close as eight points, 59-51, after a three-point shot by Evan Wiehe (Cleveland, OH/Nordonia) at the 10:16 mark. A 14-2 Lancer run broke the game open as Longwood took a 73-53 lead with 6:25 remaining. The 'Cats closed their gap to 12 points with 2:45 to play and made a basket at the buzzer to make it a 11-point difference.

On the night, Randolph was 24-of-59 from the floor (40.7%) while Longwood went 24-of-55 (43.6%). The WildCats were efficient from behind the three-point arc as they were 13-of-36 (36.1%) while the Lancers struggled and were just 2-of-14 (14.3%). Longwood was 29-of-40 (72.5%) from the charity stripe while Randolph was 7-of-13 (53.8%). The Lancers led in total rebounds 44-27.

Wiehe finished with 12 points as did James Jr. Perry and Landon Wagoner (Martinsville, Va./Carlisle School) both totaled eight points each.

Randolph officially starts its season on Saturday as the WildCats travel to Brevard College. Game time will be at 12:00 p.m.