ASHLAND, Va. - Senior Michael Taylor (Apex, N.C./Grace Christian) tallied 19 points, one of four Yellow Jackets in double figures, as the Randolph-Macon men's basketball team defeated Shenandoah 80-73 Wednesday evening in ODAC action in Crenshaw Gymnasium.
Combined with Guilford's 72-46 loss at Roanoke, the Yellow Jackets (16-6, 12-1 ODAC) took over sole possession of first place in the ODAC.
Junior Daniel Noe (Fairfax, Va./Bishop Ireton) put up 16 points, while senior Jamie Wilson (West Point, Va./West Point) scored 12 and junior Jermaine Johnson (Akron, Ohio/St. Christopher) added 11 off the bench.
Noe and senior Boris Ngundji (Richmond, Va./Fuqua) had layups to start the game as R-MC would never trail. A three-pointer by sophomore Grayson Midulla (Glen Allen, Va./Glen Allen) gave the Yellow Jackets an 18-7 advantage with 12 minutes remaining in the half. The Hornets (8-14, 4-9 ODAC) used a 9-5 spurt to cut the deficit to seven at 23-16 with 8:15 left. A Taylor trey capped an 8-1 run as the home team pushed the advantage to 14 at 31-17 with five minutes remaining. A triple by freshman Korey Turner (Midlothian, Va./Amelia Academy) gave R-MC its largest lead at 37-22 with one minute left. SU sank a trey to make it 37-25 at the break. Taylor had 11 first-half points, while Noe contributed two points and four assists in the first period.
The Hornets started the second half with a 13-6 spurt to pull within five at 43-38 with 13:15 left. A free throw by Johnson completed a 6-0 run as R-MC pushed its lead to 11 at 49-38 with 11:45 left. A follow by sophomore Montese Adams (Richmond, Va./Fuqua) gave the Yellow Jackets a 66-52 lead with four minutes remaining. SU used a 21-10 run to make it a three-point game at 76-73 with 23 seconds left. Taylor and Noe both hit a pair of free throws in the final 20 seconds to make the final 80-73.
Noe finished with six rebounds and five assists.
Randolph-Macon hits the road for an ODAC battle at nationally-ranked Guilford in a battle for first place on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 4:30 p.m.