BALTIMORE, Md. - Holding a one-point lead down the stretch, Hood College's defense held on the game's final five possessions as the Blazers knocked off Randolph, 58-55, on the first night of the Blue Jay Invitational at Johns Hopkins.
Freshman Malik Harris (Columbia, Md. / Archbishop Spalding) was in for defense at the end and showed why, blocking a Corey Brown 3-point attempt with nine seconds to play. Reggie Daniels (Abingdon, Md. / Patterson Mill) came up with the rebound, was fouled and sank both free throws to ice the game.
A 3-pointer by Ryan Fields with 2:43 left cut Hood's lead to 56-55. The WildCats missed threes on each of their next three possessions. On the third, with just 28 seconds left, Randolph got the offensive board and was fouled, but missed both free throws. Hood cleared the rebound and the WildCats were forced to foul. Still in the one-and-one, the Blazers missed the front end to give Randolph another chance. The WildCats found Brown in the corner, but Harris quickly closed out and blocked the shot.
Hood committed just six turnovers in the game, its fewest since turning the ball over four times in a win over Penn St.-York in January 2008.
Terell Buyck (Forestville, Md. / Bishop McNamara) and Davon Hill (Clinton, Md. / Potomac School) had 13 points apiece to lead the Blazers. Buyck was 4-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Hill went 3-of-7 on threes and grabbed six boards. Chris Cook (Mechanicsville, Va. / Lee-Davis) and Trevor Magnuski (Mechanicsburg, Pa. / Cumberland Valley) each scored 10 points. Cook dished out a season-high five assists and had three steals. Magnuski was 5-of-9 shooting.
Hood trailed 25-19 in the first half, but outscored Randolph 16-2 over the final 4:34 to take a 35-27 advantage into halftime. Magnuski and Hill fueled the run with six points apiece.
The WildCats scored the first 11 points of the second half to take a 38-35 lead, but Hill hit a three and tied the game with 16:36 left. Hood led by seven, 56-49, with four minutes to play after two free throws by Cook, before Randolph chipped away with threes by Zach Desgain and Fields.
Gordon Rogo scored a game-high 16 points for the WildCats on 7-of-9 shooting. Hood held the rest of the Randolph roster to just 12-of-38 from the floor (32 percent). Seth Wimbush was 4-of-6 on 3-pointers. Desgain pitched in with 10 points and nine boards.
The Blazers forced Randolph into 18 turnovers and turned the miscues into 22 points.
Hood will face the winner of the Johns Hopkins/Kenyon semifinal in the championship game on January 3 at 3 p.m.