LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph men's basketball team hosted Eastern Mennonite in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference game on Saturday afternoon. It was a close game throughout until the Royals pulled away late in the second half as they came away with a 79-69 victory.

Randolph started the game with a 7-0 run. Eastern Mennonite answered with a 14-0 run to lead 14-7 at 10:52. The WildCats closed their deficit down to three points, 20-17, with 6:15 left in the half. EMU led by as much as eight points, 28-20, with 4:08 remaining in the period. Randolph used a 10-2 run to tie the game at 30-30 with under a minute to go until halftime. A pair of free throws by Aaron Brooks gave the Royals a 32-30 lead at the break.

In the second half, Randolph would tie the game at 37-37 and 41-41. The Royals pushed ahead to go up 56-48 with 9:47 remaining on the game clock. The WildCats would bring their deficit down to two points, 64-62, with 4:27 left to play. It was still a one-possession game, 68-65, after Jordan Phillips-McLoyd (Johnson City, Tenn./Science Hill) made a jumper and converted a free throw with 2:34 remaining.  The Royals would go on a 11-4 run to end the game to pull away from the WildCats. EMU converted eight free throws in the last 48 seconds.

Randolph was 27-of-58 (46.6%) from the field and 8-of-30 (26.7%) from behind the three-point arc. Eastern Mennonite was 28-of-53 (52.8%) overall and 8-of-19 (42.1%) in three-point attempts.

Phillips-McLoyd scored 22 points to go with six assists. Moustapha Diop (Fuquay Varina, N.C./Apex Friendship) added 15 points and four rebounds. Amari Gorham (Yorktown, Va./Yorktown) finished with 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

The WildCats are back at Giles Gymnasium on Wednesday when they host current #10 ranked Hampden-Sydney. Game time will be at 7:30 p.m.