OWINGS MILLS, MD – No. 16 Transylvania held on for a 56-54 victory over No. 24 Randolph-Macon in men's basketball action Saturday night at the Hoopsville National Invitational.

R-MC (0-2) trailed 52-47 with 4:41 to play after a pair of free-throws by TU's Brandon Rash.   After the two teams exchanged possessions without scoring, R-MC's Chris Hamilton drained a three-pointer to make the score 52-50 with 3:51 to go in the game.

Following a TU timeout, Rash knocked down a jumper for the final two of his game-high 21 points and gave the Pioneers a 54-50 advantage.

The Yellow Jackets got a bucket from Marcus Badger on its ensuing possession and following a defensive stop, a Joe Hassell layup pulled R-MC even with 2:25 to play.

On TU's next trip down the court, Nick Fudge was fouled and he converted a pair of free-throws to put the Pioneers up 56-54 with 1:53 to play.

R-MC turned the ball over on its next two possessions but got defensive stops to put itself in a position to tie or win the game.

Following an R-MC timeout, Hamilton's jumper in the final seconds missed and Parker Stansberry grabbed the rebound to preserve the win for Transylvania.

Connor Sullivan led R-MC with a career-high 17 points, while Hamilton set a career-best with 12 points in just eight minutes of action.    Randolph-Macon made 20-of-38 (52.6%) shots from the floor, including 8-of-16 shots from behind the three-point line.  The Yellow Jackets turned the ball over 22 times that led to 26 Pioneer points. 

Rash was joined in double-digits by Stansberry with 12 points and Barrett Meyer with 10.   The Pioneers made 21-of-54 (38.9%) shots from the field in the win.  Rash grabbed eight rebounds to help TU to a 30-23 advantage on the glass.

R-MC will be back in action tomorrow at the Hoopsville Invitational when it takes on No. 19 St. Mary's of Maryland at 4:00 p.m.