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.