ASHLAND, VA (February 17, 2010)—For one of the most anticipated games of the season in front of a sellout crowd in RandolphRandolph-Macon's Crenshaw Gymnasium, the game lived up to all expectations as it was a tight, back-and-forth game all the way through with the Tigers prevailing in the end by a score of 66-61.

The underdog Tigers stayed with the #16 Yellow Jackets in the early stages, even taking a slim one point lead two and a half minutes into the game. Senior Turner King (Roanoke, VA/Roanoke Catholic)kept his team in the game, scoring six of the Tigers' first eight points to go with his game-high 25 points.

After a scoring drought by both teams, and the score stuck on 11-8 in the Jackets' favor, sophomoreBen Jessee (Midlothian, VA/Cosby) came down in transition and nailed a three to make it tie the game at the 10:41 mark.

Macon's Brandon Braxton combated the trey with a dunk to put his squad up 13-11. As it looked like R-MC had momentum and a 15-11 lead, King struck again with a 17 foot jumper, followed by a old fashioned three point play from freshman Randall Ward (Richmond, VA/John Marshall) to give the Tigers' their second lead of the night at 16-15.

Four straight points from freshman Harrison George (Raleigh, NC/Leesville) gave the Tigers a 20-17 cushion, before a Danny Jones lay up made it a one point game again.

The two teams continued to trade leads with neither team able to pull away. Four straight free throws from King and Jonathan Mudd (Miami, FL/American) gave Hampden-Sydney a three point lead at 34-31 with one minute remaining, and a big defensive stop on the last play of the half gave the Tigers a 34-31 advantage at intermission.

Randolph-Macon came out of the locker room fired up, and just under 30 seconds into the second stanza, Calvin Croskey hit a three to tie the game yet again. Croskey then came down on the ensuing possession with a lay up to give the Yellow Jackets their first lead of the half at 36-34.

After Eric Pugh nailed another three to put his team up 39-34, Mudd fired back with a lay up and a foul to make it 39-37 with 17:29 to play.

After several key stops from the Tigers, it was King who tied the game again at 39 a piece. Another stop led to King nailing another jumper to get the Tigers a 41-39 lead with just over 15 minutes to play.

As the game had been going, the Jackets stayed in it and tied the game at 42 at the 14:40 mark. The next three minutes saw a scoring drought from both sides, but King continued to shine, and the Tigers built up a 48-44 lead with just over ten minutes to play.

The lead was cut to one, however, after a big three from Danny Jones. King returned the favor with a triple of his own to put the Tigers back up four with just over nine to play.

Though Randolph-Macon continued to stay in the game, the Tigers continued to try to pull away. At the 7:29 mark, Mudd converted a three point play to give Hampden-Sydney its largest lead of the night at 56-51.

Mudd continued to get to the line, and after he knocked down a free throw, the Tigers were up 57-54 with just under five and a half minutes remaining.

The next two minutes were a defensive battle, with the Jackets chipping in to make it a two point game at 59-57. After two Mudd free throws though, the Tigers were back up 61-57 with 2:48 to play.

Each team scored over the next minute in a half, setting up a a 63-59 Tiger lead with just over one minute to play. Adam Desgain hit two from the charity stripe to make it a two point game. After a missed Tiger foul shot, Randolph-Macon got possession with 30.7 seconds trailing 63-61.

The Jackets went to Jones, but the Tigers came up with the huge stop which led to a Jacket foul that send George to the line. The freshman was not swayed by the hostile environment, nailing both free throws to put the Tigers up 65-61 with 12.1 seconds.

Randolph-Macon could not convert on their next attempt, and King nailed the final blow with a free throw for the 66-61 victory.

King led all scorers with 25 points on 10-15 shooting while Mudd had 18 crucial points including a 10-12 from the free throw line. George also added a solid performance with 10 points and nine rebounds. On the night, the Tigers were red hot shooting 54.8% going 23-42 while connecting on 17-23 from the charity stripe.

Randolph-Macon was led by Danny Jones who scored 19 points including 12 in the first half. Pugh was the only other Yellow Jacket to score double figures with 11 points. On the night, Randolph-Macon was just 26-65 (40%) from the floor and 4-23 (17.4%) from beyond the arc.

Hampden-Sydney, which improves to to 13-11 and 8-7 in the ODAC, returns home for its final contest of the regular season against #10 Virginia Wesleyan College on Saturday, February 20. Tip off is set for 2:00 pm.