LYNCHBURG, VA — The WildCats of Randolph College held the 14th-ranked Eastern Mennonite offense to just 61 points on 32 percent shooting as the Wildcats got their first-ever win over a ranked opponent Saturday with a 64-61 upset victory in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action from PER.
Eastern Mennonite, coming in as sixth best scoring offense in the nation, was held to just 21-of-64 from the field. EMU (13-4/4-4 ODAC) also knocked down only five of its 21 attempts from deep, while turning the ball over 21 times. EMU's score of 61 was 30 points under their season average of 91 a contest.
The WildCats (12-4/6-2 ODAC) scored six of the game's first eight points, as Caleb Pearson (Franklin, VA/Southampton Academy) made a lay-up with 17:57 to make the score 6-2. EMU rallied back to take its biggest lead of the contest at 14-10 after an Orie Pancione bucket with just under 12 minutes to play.
Randolph would respond though, going on an 8-1 run to put itself up 18-15 on a free throw by Dylan Shiflett (Virginia Beach, VA/Cape Henry) . The WildCats would never relinquish the lead for the rest of the half, leading by as much as eight with three minutes to go on a triple from senior Pete Hamilton (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) .
After Randolph led 29-24 at the half, EMU cut into the advantage tying the game at 39 on a three-pointer from RJ Sims. The host WildCats scored the game's next seven points to make the count 46-39, and eventually upped their margin to 10 on a layup from junior Derrick Woods-Morrow (Greensboro, NC/NE Guilford).
The visiting Runnin' Royals would not go away though, trimming the lead to three with one second left. After a failed in-bounds pass, EMU got the ball out of bounds with 0.4 seconds on the clock, but could not get the tying three-pointer off in time and the WildCats picked up arguably their biggest win in school history.
Junior guard Colton Hunt (Buford, GA/Smoky Mountain) continued to do what he does, which is score. Hunt finished with 17 points on six-of-eight shooting, grabbing give boards as well. Woods-Morrow had 10 points and a game-high 14 boards for a double-double, while Hamilton finished with 11 points. Pearson added 12 points for the WildCats, who shot 48.9 percent (23-47) from the field.
No. 14 EMU was paced by preseason All-American Todd Phillips, who scored a game-high 20 points, but needed 17 shots to do so while turning the ball seven times. Eli Crawford posted a double-double for the visitors, scoring 14 points to combine with a team-high 12 boards. EMU out-rebounded the 'Cats 45-33, including picking up 23 offensive boards.
Randolph will now set its attention on the ODAC rival Quakers of Guilford College, who will come to PER on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. for a conference tussle.