LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph men's basketball team made the short drive across town to the University of Lynchburg as they faced Nazareth College as part of the Wayne Proffitt Classic. The WildCats had a lead in the second half but the Golden Flyers came back to overtake Randolph and come away with a 96-90 victory at Turner Gym.

The two teams were neck and neck with each other throughout the first half and neither had more than a two-possession lead. Randolph's biggest lead was five points, 18-13, with 12:27 left to play in the period. Nazareth's largest advantage was also five points, 47-42, with nine seconds remaining until halftime.

In the second half, Randolph led 55-54 just over three minutes into the period. The WildCats used a 9-0 run to take its biggest lead of the afternoon, 64-54, with 14:33 showing on the clock. Nazareth then went on an 11-3 run to close to within two points, 67-65, at 10:50. Randolph would go on to up its lead to eight points, 73-65, with 8:32 remaining. The game changed on the Golden Flyers' 15-0 run that swung the lead in their favor, 80-73, with 4:20 left to play. The WildCats went silent as they were 0-for-6 from the field in nearly four and a half minutes of game time.

Jordan Phillips-McLoyd (Johnson City, Tenn./Science Hill) made a three-point basket at 4:05 to temporarily halt the Golden Flyer run but Nazareth added two more baskets to lead 84-76 that was part of an 8-2 run that gave Naz an 88-78 advantage with 1:40 left. Randolph was able to close to within six points three times in the final 1:08 but ran out of time in the end as Nazareth walked away with the victory.

Randolph shot 30-of-65 46.2% overall and 10-of-23 from behind the three-point arc. The team was aldo efficient from the free theow ling going 20-of-23 (87.5). The Golden Flyers had a 36-33 advantage in rebounds.  

Phillips-McLoyd matched his career high from earlier this season as he scored 38 points on 12-of-19 shooting. He dished out three assists and came down with three rebounds. Amari Gorham (Yorktown, Va./Yorktown) topped his career performance from last game as he scored 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Rayvon Graham (Lynchburg, Va./E.C. Glass) added 11 points. Landon Wagoner (Martinsville, Va./Carlisle School) grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

The WildCats are idle until December 30 when they travel to Mary Baldwin. Game time will be at 2:00 p.m.