ASHLAND, Va. - Randolph-Macon Men's Basketball hit 14 threes and had five players score in double-figures as they cruised to a 95-36 win over Misericordia in the RMC Coaches Tournament opening game on Monday.
The Basics:
Score: #2 Randolph-Macon 95, Misericordia 36
Venue: Ashland, Va. // Crenshaw Gym // Randolph-Macon College
Records: Randolph-Macon (9-0, 2-0 ODAC), Misericordia (7-2, 0-0 MAC)
How it Happened:
- Randolph-Macon started the game on fire, scoring the first 13 points of the game. Keishawn Pulley Jr. (Richmond, Va./St. Christopher's School) led the run with two three-pointers and Jabril Robinson (Rockville, Va./South Kent Prep) added five points of his own to the run. The Yellow Jackets ran their lead up to 23-5, shooting 9-of-18 (.500) from the field and held Misericordia without a made field goal until the 9:05 mark in the first half. Pulley Jr. would continue his fast start to the game and pushed the Lemon and Black lead to 30-10 with a lay-up at the 7:01 mark in the half. Randolph-Macon had scoring contributions from nine different players in the first half, as Pulley Jr. and Robinson led the way, combining for 22 points. The Cougars were held in check by the Yellow Jackets defense only shooting 5-of-26 (.192) from the field. The defensive pressure from the Lemon and Black combined with recording a 17-for-33 (.515) shooting percentage sent the score to 44-18 into halftime.
- In the second half, Misericordia started the scoring with a lay-up by Matt Prociak. Pulley Jr. and Robinson nailed back-to-back three balls soon after to send the lead to 50-20 with 17:53 on the clock. The long range shots sent Randolph-Macon into a scoring frenzy, running an 18-4 run up the 12:36 mark. Malcolm Hodges (Richmond, Va./Monacan) and Theo Antinori (Asheville, N.C./Rabun Gap) combined for seven points, adding to the Robinson's five that led the run. Amr Areikat (Ramallah, Palestine./Langley) knocked down a three-pointer with just under five minutes left to extend the Yellow Jacket lead to 51 points at 82-31. Randolph-Macon used 14 three-pointers to take down Misericordia by a score of 95-36.
Inside the Numbers:
- Randolph-Macon shot 55.2 percent from the floor, as Misericordia knocked down 25.5 percent of its shots. The Lemon and Black went 14-of-32 (.438) from behind the arc, compared to the Cougars shooting 2-of-22 (.091) from long range.
- The Yellow Jackets outrebounded the Cougars 47-to-22 in the entire game.
- Robinson led all scorers with 17 points. The senior nailed a trio of three balls, adding four assists, three rebounds and a steal.
- Pulley Jr. ended the afternoon with 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal. The senior also went 4-of-7 from behind the arc.
- Ty Showalter (Charlotte, N.C./Butler) had a career game in points with 14 on 5-of-8 shooting. The sophomore also tied his career mark in rebounds with seven while adding three assists and a steal to his stat sheet.
- Theartis Battle (Baltimore, Md./John Carroll) scored 11 points, pulled down four rebounds, dished out three assists, blocked two shots and had a steal for the Lemon and Black.
- Antinori was the final player to record double-digit points with 10. The junior also had three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
- Areikat pulled down eight rebounds to go with his eight point afternoon.
For the Record:
- The last time Randolph-Macon allowed less than 40 points was during the 2022-23 season, holding Wilson to 36 points.
- Randolph-Macon has now held its last three opponents to less than 50 points.
- Head Coach Josh Merkel recorded his 300th career victory.
Up Next
Randolph-Macon will compete in the RMC Coaches Tournament Championship against Salisbury tomorrow at 3:00 p.m.
