For Immediate Release – 1/16/13 - #187

Randolph Men Drop Tight One At No. 22 Guilford College Wednesday Evening               

                GREENSBORO, NC – The Randolph College men's basketball team led by three at the half but went cold from three-land in the second half as the WildCats dropped their second straight contest Wednesday with a 69-65 loss to No. 22 Guilford College in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) play from Ragan-Brown Field House.

                The WildCats (13-2/5-2 ODAC) started the game out red hot, scoring 14 of the game's first 16 points, eight coming from senior guard Colton Hunt (Whittier, NC/Smoky Mountain). Randolph would lead the rest of the first half, though Guilford (14-2/6-1 ODAC) slowly chipped away and cut the WildCat halftime lead to three at 36-33.

                After the break, the visiting WildCats pushed their edge back up to six following a jumper from Hunt with 17:57 left in the game to make the score 41-35. Guilford powered ahead, putting together a 13-2 run over the next six and a half minutes to take a five-point lead at 48-43. Minutes later, Randolph tied the score at 52 after a trifecta from junior guard Mike Ehilegbu (Raleigh, NC/Ravenscroft).

                The Quakers, who have now won 44 of their last 48 home games, would take their biggest lead of the game at 10 with 3:06 remaining after a 13-3 run, capped by a Will Freeman layup. Randolph did not give up though, putting together an 8-0 run of itself to pull to within two with 1:03 remaining after a pair of freebies from Evan Horn (Westminster, MD/Winters Mill).

                Down the stretch, Guilford had the lead by four with 20 seconds remaining, but Hunt made a lay-up with 4.1 seconds left to again make the game a two-point spread. Guilford's Jake Hopkins would step to the line seconds later and hit a pair of free throws to ice the game for the hosts. Randolph shot just 18.8 (3-16) percent from deep in the second half.  

                Hunt finished with a game-high 24 points, making nine-of-17 from the field, also grabbing six rebounds and dishing out four assists. Ehilegbu had nine points, and first-year forward Jason Eddie (Charlotte, NC/Davidson Day School) hit three shots from downtown for nine points.

                Senior center Chris Battaglia (Smithfield, VA/Portsmouth) managed to score seven and pick up a team-leading nine rebounds despite being mired in foul trouble all night, and Corey Brown (Williamsburg, VA/Walsingham) had six points off the bench.

                Randolph shot 45.3 percent from the floor, and shot a school record 34 threes, making 11. The 11 made three-pointers was the fifth-most in program history. The WildCats also turned the ball over just nine times, the second-fewest all season behind only the eight against Johns Hopkins University on December 29.

                Guilford got 17 points off the bench from Will Freeman, who made seven-of-10 from the field. Jake Hopkins had eight points and a game-leading 10 rebounds, while Matt McCarthy hit on five-of-six from the floor for 14 points. First-year center Zeb Richardson also contributed 11 points for GC, which shot 51 percent (25-49) from the floor. The Quakers also got to the line 29 times, though they made just 15 (51.7 percent).

                The WildCats will return home Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. to host the Eagles of Bridgewater College in the Randolph Athletics and Dance (RAD) Center in more league action.

--RANDOLPH--