BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Randolph College wiped out a five-point, first-half deficit with a 16-0 run and the WildCats held the upper hand the rest of the way to defeat Bridgewater 64-54 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference men's basketball action Saturday afternoon.
Randolph (10-5, 4-2 in the ODAC) placed three players in double figures with Zach Desgain leading the way with 18 points. Seth Wimbish scored 17 points and Gordon Rogo added 12.
Bridgewater (8-7, 3-3 in the ODAC) was led by senior Kyle Welty with 13 points. Benaiah Wise and Ed Reddick each scored nine points.
Wise put the Eagles on the board first with a long 3-pointer, but a free throw by Rogo and a 3-pointer by Corey Brown gave the WildCats their first lead, 4-3.
Welty scored from 15 feet before Wimbish countered with a 3-pointer to give Randolph a 7-5 lead. Bridgewater then reeled off nine straight points to lead by seven. Another 3-pointer by Wise gave the Eagles the lead and a free throw by Matthew Hunter put Bridgewater on top 9-7. Keonte Dennis scored from 12-feet out and Zach Walton tacked on a 3-pointer, giving the Eagles a 14-7 lead with 12:51 left in the half.
Desgain and Reddick traded buckets before another Wimbish 3-pointer pulled the Cats to within four, 16-12. After Wimbish made one foul shot, Reddick scored from the baseline for an 18-13 Eagles lead with 11:19 left in the half.
Randolph then took control with a 16-0 run as the Eagles failed to score for more than eight minutes.
A layup by Rogo and a 3-pointer by Desgain tied the score at 18-18. The WildCats took the lead on a Desgain jumper and a layup by Rogo made the score 22-18. Evan Horn stroked a 3-pointer and Wimbish added a 15-footer as the WildCats' lead grew to 27-18. A layup by Rogo finished off the 16-0 run and gave Randolph a 29-18 lead with 4:09 left in the half.
Cameron Thurston finally ended the Eagles' long scoring drought with a 3-pointer from the corner, cutting the margin to eight, 29-21. Ryan Fields countered with a 3-pointer for Randolph before a dunk by Reddick and a free throw by Welty pulled the Eagles to within 32-24 at the half.
Randolph's biggest lead of the second half was 12 points, but each time the Eagles threatened the WildCats had an answer.
The Eagles used an 8-2 spurt to pull within five early in the second half. A 3-pointer by Welty put the margin at eight before a Desgain jumper gave the WildCats a 38-28 lead. Welty made 1-of-2 at the foul line and Wise struck again from beyond the arc to slice the margin to six. Another 1-of-2 effort at the line by Welty made the score 38-33 with 13:39 left.
Two jumpers by Wimbish put lead back at nine as Randolph turned away the first Eagles' run of the second half.
Trailing by 10 points, 47-37, the Eagles put together a quick 5-0 spurt to cut the margin in half. Thurston hit a 3-pointer and Reddick added two free throws, pulling the Eagles to within five, 47-42, with 7:15 to play.
Wimbish tallied for Randolph, but a free throw by Logan Seacrist and a fade-away 10-footer by Zach Hunter made it a four-point game, 49-45, with 5:39 left.
Randolph responded with a 6-0 spurt capped by Jason Eddie's 3-ball to push the lead back to double figures, 55-45, with 4:00 remaining.
The Eagles could get no closer than nine points the rest of the way as Randolph left Nininger Hall with a 64-54 victory.
The battle of the boards was dead even as each team pulled down 33 rebounds. Reddick grabbed nine boards for the Eagles while Rogo paced the WildCats with seven rebounds.
The WildCats won the game at the foul line where they made 25-of-34 free throws. Bridgewater connected on just 10 of its 19 foul shots.