ASHLAND, VA (February 23, 2008)�Hampden-Sydney's basketball team fell to Randolph-Macon, 72-66, at Crenshaw Gymnasium in Ashland, VA on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers opened the game with an 8-0 lead, but Randolph-Macon took a five-point halftime lead and went on for the six-point victory. Hampden-Sydney was led by sophomore guardTurner King (Roanoke, VA/Roanoke Catholic) as he finished with 18 points and four rebounds. With the loss, Hampden-Sydney drops to 14-11 overall and 8-10 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, while Randolph-Macon improved to 20-5 overall record and a 14-4 mark in the conference.
Hampden-Sydney opened the game on an 8-0 run in the first six minutes of the game. Trailing Hampden-Sydney 12-4, Randolph-Macon went on a 14-0 run during a four minute span to take a six-point lead, 18-12, with 8:01 left to play. The Tigers tied the game, 18-18, as freshman forward Colin O'Neill (Fort Leavenworth, KS/Fort Leavenworth) hit a pair of free throws to with 5:55 remaining. Freshman Brent Dillard (Dalzell, SC/Camden Military Academy) hit a three-pointer to give the Tigers a two-point lead, but Randolph-Macon closed the half on a 7-0 run to take a 32-27 advantage into the break.
In the early portions of the second half, Randolph-Macon maintained their lead, holding a ten-point advantage, 49-39, with 13:51 left to play in the second half. The Yellow Jackets would push their lead to 13 points on a Jordan Brown lay-in at the 11:40 mark. Trailing 62-51, Hampden-Sydney went on an 11-2 run over a four minute span to cut the Randolph-Macon lead to just two points, 64-62, with 2:48 left to play. The Yellow Jackets went on a 5-0 run to take a 69-62 lead and hit several free throws down the stretch to take the 72-66 victory over the Tigers.
Hampden-Sydney had three players score in double-figures, led by King with 18 points, while senior Troy Kaase (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) added 14 points and team-high seven rebounds. Also scoring in double-figures for Hampden-Sydney was senior Drew Prehmus (Atlanta, GA/Wesleyan School) as he finished with ten points and five rebounds. Randolph-Macon was led by Jordan Brown who scored 18 points, while Justin Short added 15 points. Jeremy Dixon and Danny Jones finished with 15 and 11 points respectively.
The Tigers shot 36.8 (21-of-57) percent from the field, including 31.6 (6-of-19) percent from behind-the-arc, and 90.0 (18-of-20) percent from the charity stripe. Randolph-Macon finished the game at 54.5 percent from the field and 58.3 percent from three-point range. The Yellow Jackets connected on 70.8 percent of their free-throws. Hampden-Sydney held a slight edge over Hampden-Sydney on the boards, 33-28.
The Tigers will return to action on Friday, February 29, in the opening round of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, VA. The opponent and game time for Hampden-Sydney are yet to be determined, but continue to check the Tiger athletics website for up-to-date information. Fans can also catch all the exciting hardwood action on WFLO 95.7 FM or www.hsc.edu.
