LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph men's basketball team hosted Eastern Mennonite on Saturday afternoon at Giles Gymnasium. Three WildCats reached double figures as Randolph came out on the winning end with a 77-67 victory.
The victory snaps a nine-game winless streak for the WildCats. Randolph also sweeps the season series from the Royals having won this season's earlier matchup in Harrisonburg 95-86 in overtime.
It was a one-possession contest, 11-9 in Randolph's favor, with 12:29 showing on the game clock. A 7-0 Randolph run upped the WildCat lead to nine points, 18-9, with 10:19 remaining in the half. The Royals closed to within five points at 23-18 with under eight minutes remaining. The WildCats used a 14-5 run to up their lead to 14 points, 37-23, with 3:27 showing on the game clock. Eastern Mennonite came back to eat into their deficit and cut the Randolph lead down to five points, 37-32, with 38 ticks left. Ryan Viruso's (Davidson, N.C./Hough HS) layup with 12 seconds left gave the WildCats a 39-32 lead at halftime.
In the second half, the WildCats quickly restored their lead to double digits as Evan Wiehe (Northfield, OH/Nordonia) sank a three-point basket to start the period. It was part of a 14-6 run to begin the half. The 'Cats maintained their double-digit advantage for the majority of the period. EMU was able to close to 10 points, 53-43, with 13:46 remaining in the game and then with 6:06 left but the WildCats were able to maintain a strong lead for the rest of the half.
"Really proud of how our team showed up today," said head coach Pete Hamilton after the game. "We were extremely selfless and I think you could really see guys making plays for each other throughout. 17 assists and three turnovers is an awesome stat to see. Not only the assists but the screening and cutting to set up others was evident throughout."
Randolph shot 28-of-69 (40.6%) on the day and was 14-of-36 (38.9%) in three-point attempts with the 14 made three-point field goals tying for the most in a game this season. Eastern Mennonite was 23-of-64 (35.9%) from the floor and 10-of-30 (33.3%) in three-point attempts. The Royals led in rebounds 45-42.
Wiehe finished with a season-high 24 points and was a season-high 7-of-16 from behind the three-point arc. He added four rebounds and three assists. Danny Bickey (Beckley, W.V./Woodrow Wilson) added 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Nehemiah Frye (King George, Va./King George HS) added a season-high 15 points to go with six rebounds.
"Nehemiah Frye gave us a huge lift off the bench," noted Hamilton. "We felt like we could get a slot of open looks off two-man game actions with how they were guarding, and Nehemiah knocked in a bunch of those for us early. He and Ty Clingerman's ballscreen in the first half was an easy go to for us. I thought Clingerman, Evan Wiehe, Moustapha Diop, Cole Perry, Rayvon Graham and Ryan Viruso did an excellent job guarding a few really dynamic scorers for EMU. Those guys were physical with drives and had great presence at the three-point line guarding. Evan also really took advantage of a spaced floor offensively. Was big to have him knock in seven 3's and I thought they were all really good and in rhythm looks."
The WildCats host cross-city rival Lynchburg on Wednesday night at Giles Gymnasium. Randolph hopes to avenge an early-season setback to the Hornets back in November. Game time will be at 7:00 p.m.
