SALEM, Va.Â
– In the quarterfinal of the 2024 ODAC tournament in Salem, top-seed Randolph-Macon outlasted eighth-seed Shenandoah 71-68 in overtime in a back-and-forth contest.
Score:Â #1 Randolph-Macon 71, #8 Shenandoah 68 (OT)
Venue:Â Salem Civic Center
Records:Â Randolph-Macon (23-3, 15-1 ODAC), Shenandoah (17-10, 7-9 ODAC)
How it Happened:
- Daniel Mbangue (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) started the scoring with a jumper in the lane and had four of RMC's first six points. Keishawn Pulley Jr. (Richmond, Va./St. Christopher's School) and Lance Johnson (South Riding, Va./Freedom) both knocked down threes but the Hornets fought back, hitting three triples in the first seven minutes. Both teams were shooting over 60% at the first media timeout with 12:19 to go. The Hornets offense took off and the Yellow Jackets went cold for the ensuing five minutes, as SU held a 23-15 lead with seven to go in the half. Out of an SU timeout, the Hornets hit another basket to push the lead to double digits for the first time. Malcolm Hodges (Richmond, Va./Monacan) broke the near-eight minute scoring drought with a layup to bring the score back to eight at 25-17. Pulley Jr. knocked down a three to cut the deficit to three at 25-22. Mbangue scored a layup with 30 seconds to go in the half to tie the score at 27 to end the half on a 12-2 run.
- Mbangue kept rolling into the second half, scoring six of RMC's first nine points of the half as RMC held a 36-35 lead. Vincent Payne (Frederick, Md./St. Maria Goretti) tied his career-high in threes with his third triple of the game to give RMC a 45-42 lead midway through the second half. Payne then knocked down his fourth three to give the Yellow Jackets a 50-46 lead. Shenandoah regained the lead with three and a half minutes to go with a three to make it 56-53 Hornets. Shenandoah got a third-chance bucket with a minute left to push their lead to 60-55. Vincent Payne hit yet another three to cut the lead to two. Mbangue knotted the score at 60 with nine seconds remaining, giving Shenandoah a change to win it on the final possession of regulation but got a stop to send it to overtime.
- SU scored the first basket of the extra frame but Mbangue answered with one of his own. After another stop for RMC, Pulley Jr. knocked down a three followed by Mbangue with another layup to make the score 67-62. After a 4-0 run by SU, Mbangue answered with a jumper in the lane with 30 seconds to go. After two Pulley Jr. free throws, the Yellow Jackets got a stop to win the game 71-68.
Inside the Numbers:
- Daniel Mbangue's heroics helped him finish with 26 points on 11-14 shooting with seven rebounds and six assists. 26 points marks a career-high for Mbangue, topping his 25 from last season's quarterfinals. 11 field goals tie the most made in a game by an RMC player this season.
- Vincent Payne notched career-highs with five threes and 15 points off the bench, including hitting four threes in the second half alone.
- Keishawn Pulley Jr. totaled 14 points on four threes. He went 2-2 from the line late in the game to seal the game.
- RMC shot 47% from the field and 40% from three. The Yellow Jackets were nearly perfect from the line, shooting 8-9.
- Amr Areikat (Ramallah, Palestine/Langley) came off the bench and nailed three triples along with strong defense.
- The Yellow Jackets bench outscored the Hornets' bench 26-9.
Up Next
- Randolph-Macon will play the winner of #4 seed Washington and Lee and #5 seed Roanoke on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. for the semifinals.
