Salisbury falls at Randolph-Macon, 77-55; ends six-game win streak

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ASHLAND, Va. – The Salisbury University men's basketball team's six-game winning streak came to an end with a 77-55 loss to Randolph-Macon College on Wednesday at Crenshaw Gym.

Senior Elijah Gore led Salisbury (9-2) with 12 points, two steals and one assist off the bench while classmate Trent Epps finished with 11 points, six rebounds, one assist and one steal.

The Sea Gulls whittled a 39-30 halftime deficit to four, at 47-43, on a jumper by senior Travon Vann with 12:13 remaining before Randolph-Macon (4-5) used a 14-0 run over 5:09 to put the game away. Lamar Giggets scored five of his 17 points in the stretch which saw the Yellow Jackets lead, 61-43, with 7:04 to play.

Knotted at 14 with 11:25 left in the first half, the Sea Gulls reeled off a 10-3 spurt to open their largest lead of the game, 24-17, when senior Craig Ryan capped the run with a three-pointer off of an assist from junior Tim Harwood at the 9:18 mark. Randolph-Macon scored the game's next eight points, taking a 25-24 edge on a three-point play by Andre Simon with 8:10 to go in the opening 20 minutes.

Senior Dylan Robeson responded with a three-pointer from Harwood on the next possession to give Salisbury its final lead of the game at 27-25 as the Yellow Jackets closed the half on a 14-3 run.

Gore began the second half with a three to cut the Randolph-Macon lead to 39-33 inside the first minute, but baskets by Simon and Connor Sullivan, respectively, restored the double-digit advantage to 43-33 with 17:33 left. Sophomore Chris Viqueira hit another three to make it a 47-41 game with 13:39 left before Vann knocked down his first of only two made field goals for the game to get within four.

Randolph-Macon shot 53 percent (30-for-56) for the game, including 63 percent in the second half to put a halt to SU's best start to a season since the 1991-92 campaign; Salisbury started 28-1 that season. The Yellow Jackets outrebounded SU, 41-28.

Simon led four Yellow Jackets in double figures with 18 points, seven rebounds, one assist and one steal. Viqueira added eight points and one assist for Salisbury, which was 39 percent from the field (21-of-53).

Salisbury heads to The College of William & Mary on Friday to face the Division I Tribe in a regular-season game at Kaplan Arena at 7 p.m.