Sixth-Seeded WildCats to Meet #3 Guilford in Quarterfinals
LYNCHBURG, Va. --- The Randolph College
men’s basketball team took the lead with 12 minutes to go in
the first half and never looked back in knocking off No. 11 seeded
Roanoke College 69-62 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference
(ODAC) Tournament opening round Tuesday night.
With the victory, Randolph (13-13) advances to play No. 3 seed
Guilford College Friday evening at 8 p.m. at the Salem Civic Center
in Salem, VA. The win also marked the first time either team has
won on its home court in the seven game all-time series.
Randolph was the beneficiary of a great game from junior
guard Colton Hunt (Whittier, NC/Smoky Mountain) . On a
day that saw Hunt be named as an Academic All-American, he finished
with 26 points, nine rebounds and three steals to spur on the
WildCats.
The game was tight down the stretch as the Maroons (7-19) refused
to let a 12-point halftime deficit deter them. After Hunt made the
score 53-46 on a jumper from in the lane, Roanoke went on a 8-2 run
to trim the Randolph lead down to one, capped by a three pointer
from Zach Barrett.
The WildCats built the lead back up to six with a 5:59 to go thanks
to two buckets and a free throw. Kwasi Amponsah, who played in his
final game with the Maroons and posted a team-best 20 points,
nailed a three with less than a minute to make the game a one
possession contest. Randolph would go to the line eight times over
the last minute, making six of those while the Maroons missed their
last four trifectas as the ‘Cats held on.
Hunt scored his game high 26 points on six-of-14 shooting, also
making 11-of-14 from the line. Senior Derrick Woods-Morrow
(Greensboro, NC/NE Guilford) , who was playing in his final
game in the Randolph Athletics and Dance (RAD) Center, had 13
points and nine boards. Sophomore Mike Ehilegbu (Raleigh,
NC/Ravenscroft) didn’t shoot well, but still managed 12
points, six boards and four assists.
The WildCats trailed early in the game, with the Maroons taking
their biggest lead of the game of four at 11-7 with 13:52 left
after a pair of free ones from Amponsah. The WildCats would turn
that four-point deficit into an eight-point lead over the next four
minutes, going on a 12-0 run sparked by two threes from Ehilegbu
and a monster one-handed slam from Woods-Morrow.
Randolph pushed the lead to a game-high 17 just before the half
before Roanoke netted the last five points of the half to cut the
lead to 12. Amponsah was eight-of-16 from the floor, but was forced
all night by the Randolph defense to make tough shots. No other
Maroon had double figures, though first-year Daniel Eacho scored
nine points. Logan Singleton had a game-best 11 boards for the
Maroons.
Randolph will now head to Salem, VA for the second consecutive
season, taking on the Quakers for the second straight year. Last
year, Randolph won its first ODAC Tournament game in the
program’s history against Guilford, earning a 75-72 win.
--- This release is
courtesy of the Randolph College sports information department.
---
http://wildcats.randolphcollege.edu