BRIDGEWATER, Va.- The Randolph men's basketball team returned to conference play on Wednesday as the WildCats traveled to Bridgewater. The WildCats trailed by just four points at halftime but the Eagles pulled away in the second half as they went on to win the game 87-76.

The WildCats led 4-0 to start the first half. Bridgewater then went on an 8-0 run to go ahead 8-4 at the 13:49 mark. Randolph countered with a 4-0 run to knot the score at 8-8. With the score at 22-21 in the Eagles' favor, Bridgewater's 9-2 run gave it a 31-23 advantage with 4:11 remaining on the clock. Randolph closed to within four points with 3:19 left in the period. Both teams went scoreless for the remainder of the half as both the WildCats and Eagles missed three shots each.

Bridgewater got out ahead quickly to start the second half as it increased its lead to 14 points, 48-34, with 15:14 showing on the game clock. The 'Cats cut in into their deficit with three-point baskets by Trey Miller (Virginia Beach, Va./Green Run HS), Steven Burgess Jr. (Coeur d'Alene, ID/Coeur d'Alene HS), and Ayden Barone (Chesterfield, Va./Rise Academy) to close to six points, 50-44, at the 11:17 point. Randolph got to within five points of tying the contest up with under nine minutes left to play. An 18-6 Bridgewater run put the home team ahead 73-56 with 3:24 remaining. The WildCats closed to within nine points with eight seconds left but ran out of time as the Eagles held off the Randolph comeback in the end.

It was a tale of two halves for the WildCats as they shot 30% (9-for-30) in the first half and nearly 52% (15-of-29) in the second period. Randolph was 9-of-14 (64.29%) from behind the three-point line in the second half.

Miller led all scorers with 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting, He also pulled down seven rebounds. Burgess Jr. finished with 16 points and three steals. Aveion Tucker (Newport News, Va./Woodside HS) scored 11 points and dished out eight assists. Viktor Parson (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) contributed nine points and seven rebounds.

Randolph returns to its home floor for the first time in 2026 on Saturday afternoon when its host Eastern Mennonite. Game time will be at 2:00 p.m.