BRIDGEWATER, Va. - Randolph-Macon Men's Basketball completes the regular season with a gritty 67-61 road victory at Bridgewater on Saturday night.
The Basics:
Score: #2 Randolph-Macon 67, Bridgewater 61
Venue: Bridgewater, Va. // Nininger Hall // Bridgewater College
Records: Randolph-Macon (23-2, 14-2 ODAC), Bridgewater (7-18, 3-13 ODAC)
How it Happened:
- Randolph-Macon opened the game with five quick points, capped off by a three-pointer by Delani Hammonds (Charlotte, N.C./Ardrey Kell) and took the advantage at 5-0 with 17:40 on the clock. The Eagles answered with five straight points by Mason Ramey to tie up the game at 5-5. Ty Showalter (Charlotte, N.C./Butler) and Theo Antinori (Asheville, N.C./Rabun Gap) cashed back-to-back three balls to swing the lead back to RMC at 11-5 with 14:43 left in the opening half. Bridgewater did not go away and a Carter Palmer bucket tied the game back up at 13-13 with 11:34 on the clock. Liam Joyce (Allentown, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) made two free-throws to get the lead back to five points at 20-15 for the Yellow Jackets. The Eagles would keep the Randolph-Macon lead to a few possessions and with scoring the final seven points of the half took a 32-31 lead into halftime.
- In the second half, the Eagles ran their scoring run to nine straight with a Maleek Richardson basket and took a 35-31 lead with 18:15 left in the game. The Lemon and Black would not tie up the game until Joe Bachman (Wilmington, N.C./Greensboro Day) scored on a jumper to set the score at 37-37 with 16:04 on the clock. Neither team held more than a two point lead for the next 11 minutes of game time, but a Keishawn Pulley Jr. (Richmond, Va./St. Christopher's School) lay-up with 4:54 gave RMC a 60-56 lead. Bridgewater held close with a bucket by Lincoln Jackson, cutting the Randolph-Macon lead to 62-58 with 3:01 on the clock. Pulley Jr. made a huge three-pointer with just over a minute left in the game to give the Yellow Jackets a cushion with a 65-58 lead. Antinori knocked down two free-throws to ice the game and send Randolph-Macon home with a 67-61 win.
Inside the Numbers:
- Randolph-Macon shot 38.9 percent from the floor, as Bridgewater knocked down 53.7 percent of its shots.
- The Yellow Jackets outrebounded the Eagles 35-to-24 in the entire game. Randolph-Macon also pulled down 17 offensive rebounds to Bridgewater's four in the game.
- Pulley Jr. led the Lemon and Black in scoring with 13 points. The senior made a trio of three-pointers and pulled down three rebounds.
- Hammonds scored 11 points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out three assists and had two steals.
- Antinori ended the game with seven points and two rebounds for the Yellow Jackets.
For the Record:
- Pulley Jr. moved past Kurt Bergmann '04 and Danny Jones '11 into 25th all-time in career scoring with 1,282 points.
- Jabril Robinson (Rockville, Md./South Kent Prep) moved past Kevin Wood '78 into 29th all-time in career scoring with 1,223 points.
Up Next
Randolph-Macon will host one of the ODAC Quarterfinal matchups, taking on eighth-seeded Guilford on Tuesday, February 24 at 7:00 p.m.
