WildCat Men's Basketball Toughens Out ODAC Win Over Randolph-Macon College 66-65
LYNCHBURG, VA – On an afternoon where defense was on display, it was fitting that the Randolph College men's basketball team got a defensive stop as time expired to earn a hard fought 66-65 victory over Randolph-Macon College in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action Saturday afternoon.
The WildCats, who earned 50 points in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll coming into the contest, stayed unbeaten and are now one of only six teams in Division III that remains undefeated. The victory was the first regular season win over Randolph-Macon in school history, and moved Randolph to 12-0 on the year and 4-0 in the conference.
Things didn't start out great for the hosts though, as the WildCats (12-0/4-0 ODAC) struggled from the field, missing their first five field goals before hitting a jumper 3:35 into the game. R-MC (6-5/2-2 ODAC) would continue to hound the WildCats, and eventually took its biggest lead of the game at 27-18 after a three from Akeem Holmes.
The hosts didn't panic, going on a 15-2 run over the last 6:13 of the half to turn a nine-point deficit into a four-point advantage at the halftime break. Senior Colton Hunt (Whittier, NC/Smoky Mountain) had seven of his 17 first half points during that spurt.
After the intermission and with Randolph leading by one at 41-40, the hosts again would surge ahead thanks to a 12-3 run to take the game's biggest lead of 10 (53-43) after a lay-up from Hunt with 10:44 left in the game. Undeterred, the Yellow Jackets scored the next eight points of the contest to trim the WildCats lead to two with 8:15 left.
The WildCat lead hovered around three points for much of the remaining half. With a minute to go Mike Ehilegbu (Raleigh, NC/Ravenscroft) was fouled on a three-point attempt, and he knocked down two-of-three to put the hosts up 66-62. Lamar Giggetts, who had 14 second-half points to pace R-MC, answered back with an old-fashioned three-point play with just over 45 seconds left to make it a one-point game.
After a timeout, Hunt had a good look from three late in the shot clock but the attempt just rimmed out, giving the Jackets a chance to win the game with 14 seconds left and the score 66-65 in favor of the WildCats.
Following a Randolph-Macon timeout, Giggetts received the ball on the block with just over four seconds left, but passed to Marcus Badger who couldn't get a shot off before the buzzer sounded, giving Randolph the victory. Randolph's 4-0 record in the ODAC is the best start in league play in program history.
Hunt led all scorers with 23 points, making just nine-of-22 from the field, but he also grabbed a team-best 11 rebounds, had four assists as well as five steals. Hunt's double-double was his fourth of the season, and he also surpassed the 1,500-point plateau as he now sits at 1,514.
Senior center Chris Battaglia (Smithfield, VA/Portsmouth) had his best game of his career, scoring a career-high 18 points on six-of-eight shooting, pulling in eight rebounds and picking up three steals. Ehilegbu added 13 points for Randolph, and consistent Evan Horn (Westminster, MD/Winters Mill) added eight points and five assists.
The WildCats fired 23-of-56 (41.1 percent) from the field, and dished out 15 assists while turning the ball over just 14 times. Randolph also made 12-of-14 from the line, with Battaglia making all four of his shots from the free throw stripe.
"I was proud of the resiliency our group showed today," said head coach Clay Nunley. "They stayed the course throughout the game regardless of the circumstances, and we were able to get a defensive stop at the end when we needed it. It was a great team win."
R-MC was led by the 21 points from Giggetts, as he was nine-of-18 from the field. Badger added nine points, eight assists and four steals, and Andre Simon scored nine points on four-of-six from the floor. Randolph-Macon won the rebounding battle, 38-27, as Dylan Cole had a team-leading nine rebounds.
Randolph returns to the floor this upcoming Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. in the Randolph Athletics and Dance (RAD) Center for a conference tilt with Roanoke College.
--RANDOLPH--