Lynchburg Reporter

Knights Get Best of Randolph Men 92-87

 The Randolph men's basketball team traveled to Southern Virginia for a Saturday afternoon matchup with the Knights. Four WildCats reached double digits in scoring including two scoring over 20 points but it was not enough in the end as Southern Virginia won 92-87.

The host Knights started the game with an 8-0 run a little under three minutes in. Back-to-back three point baskets by Jerry Goodman (Suffolk, Va./Portsmouth Christian School) and Jordan Phillips McLoyd (Johnson City, Tenn./Science Hill) cut the Southern Virginia lead to two points. The Knights would hold their lead and were ahead 22-15 with 9:22 remaining in the first half. The WildCats closed to within a point with six straight points, five of which came from Danny Bickey (Beckley, W.V./Woodrow Wilson), with 7:22 remaining to play in the period. The Knights added to their lead and were ahead 37-28 with 2:46 on the clock. The 'Cats used an 8-2 run to make it a one-possession game with 38 ticks left. A three by the Knights' Abe Connolly put the hosts out in front 42-36 at halftime.

Randolph came out in the second half scoring the first six points to knot the contest at 42-42. That was part of a 20-8 WildCat run that gave Randolph its first lead of the day and its biggest at 56-50 with 13:05 showing on the clock. Southern Virginia fought back to tie the game up but the 'Cats pulled ahead on a pair of free throws by Phillips-McLoyd.

A 14-3 Knight run gave them a 68-61 lead with 7:47 left to play. Randolph closed to four points but a 7-2 Knight run gave the hosts a 76-67 lead. The WildCats got to within five points of tying it all up with exactly three minutes remaining in regulation. Southern Virginia eventually restored its nine-point lead and looked poised to pull away. The WildCats, however, would not relent as a pair of free throws by Goodman and Bickey made the score 84-80 with 1:15 remaining and the 'Cats still had some fight in them. With under a minute left however, the Knights converted six free throws to take a 90-80 lead with 28 seconds left. Randolph cut the lead in half in the final seconds but it was too late as Southern Virginia walked away with the win.

Randolph shot 29-of-65 (44.6%) from the floor overall and 9-of-28 (32.1%) from behind the three-point arc. As a team, the WildCats were 20-of-24 (83.3%) from the charity stripe. The WildCats received strong contributions from their bench with 65 points.

Phillips-McLoyd led with 22 points to go with three rebounds, three assists, and one steal. Bickey added 21 points, three steals, and two rebounds. Myron Williams (Fayetteville, N.C./Cape Fear) finished with 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting and grabbed four rebounds. Goodman contributed 11 points. Cole Perry (Salisbury, N.C./Jesse Carson) had a team-high seven rebounds to go with seven points and four assists.

Randolph will travel to Mary Washington next Saturday. Game time from Fredericksburg is at 3:00 p.m.

Original source can be found here