HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, VA - Hampden-Sydney Basketball won their second straight game over arch rival Randolph-Macon, taking the contest by a 70-60 score on Wednesday night.
H-SC got on a quick start, behind a Leon Hargrove (Raleigh, NC / Middle Creek) layup and dunk, a Khobi Williamson (Norfolk, VA / Maury) jumper, and a Keegan Wetzel (Mebane, NC / Eastern Alamance) layup to go up 8-0 less than three minutes in to the game. Andre Simon got Randolph-Macon on the board at the 17:05 mark, but Williamson scored the next four points on a jumper and a lob dunk off a Wetzel assist to go up 12-2 with 16:20 left in the half. The Yellow Jackets rallied and scored the next six points all on layups to make it a 12-8 Tigers lead. H-SC jumped back ahead by nine, 20-11, at 10:23, but R-MC once again cut the lead down to four a little over a minute later.
Cam Anderson (Charlottesville, VA / Blue Ridge) converted on a layup and free throw while Greg Lewis (Mechanicsville, VA / Hanover) drained a three ball to put H-SC back up by double digits at 7:57. R-MC answered in kind again, going on a 9-0 run capped by an Akeem Holmes dunk to cut the Tiger lead down to 26-25 with 4:17 left. The teams traded baskets the rest of the half and an Anderson jumper with 51 seconds to go provided the 35-31 halftime margin.
The second half started much in the same way as the first with Hampden-Sydney seven of the first nine points to go up 42-33 at 17:25. Marcus Badger then answered with a layup courtesy of a lucky bounce off the hands of a Williamson block and a foul allowed to convert on an and-one opportunity. The traditional three-point play did not stem the Tiger momentum as H-SC went on an 11-0 finished off by a big time Wetzel three pointer to give Hampden-Sydney a 17-point lead, 53-36, with 13:20 remaining.
Randolph-Macon continued to trail by double digits for a large portion of the rest of the game. With Hampden-Sydney holding a 59-46 lead with 6:41 to play, four straight points off free throws for the Yellow Jackets shaved the advantage down to 59-50 with 4:27 remaining. The two teams continued to match each other point for point, and Holmes made it just a seven-point contest with two minutes left. The Tigers then finished off the game by making nine of their 10 free throws in the final two minutes to seal the win.
Williamson finished with team-highs of 15 points and seven rebounds, making 5-6 attempts from the field and the free throw line. Wetzel finished his career best performance with 13 points, six rebounds, two assists, and one steal in 33 minutes. His biggest contribution came on the defensive end where he locked up the Yellow Jackets leading scorer, Lamar Giggetts. Giggetts was limited to nine points and shot an abysmal 2-12 from the floor. Harrison George (Raleigh, NC / Leesville Road) came off the bench for 12 points, five rebounds, two assists, and three steals.
Andre Simon led Randolph-Macon 14 points, five steals, and four rebounds while Connor Sullivan was the only other player in double digits with 10 points and four rebounds. Holmes narrowly missed out on a double-double, finishing with nine points and 10 caroms.
H-SC shot 54.3% (25-46) overall, 30.8% (4-13) from the three-point arc, and 16-22 (72.7%) from the free throw line. Randolph-Macon struggled from all spots on the floor, going 38.6% (22-57) overall, 15.4% (2-13) from deep range, and 60.9% (14-23) at the charity stripe. The bench came up strong for the Tigers as H-SC's reserves outscored R-MC's bench player 28-13.
Hampden-Sydney hits the road to Harrisonburg, VA, on Saturday to play Eastern Mennonite University at 7 pm.