Box Score LYNCHBURG, VA - Randolph College narrowly edged Hampden Sydney College 76-73 on Saturday afternoon in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Hampden-Sydney held an early 8-5 advantage following a Khobi Williamson (Norfolk, VA / Maury) jumper with 17 minutes left in the first half. However, Randolph scored the next eight points to go up 13-8 with 13:30 left in the first half, an advantage they would maintain for the rest of the half. Randolph would lead by as many as 10 points during the first half, but a Leon Hargrove (Raleigh, NC / Middle Creek) steal and dunk with 10 seconds left made it a 40-32 game at halftime.
The Tigers opened the second half strong making three 3-pointers and cut the lead down to 43-41 at 17 minutes. Randolph would score two three pointers on their next two possessions to put the lead back up to eight points two minutes later. The Tigers still found themselves down eight with 10 minutes remaining but Hampden-Sydney drained a three pointer on four consecutive possessions to lead 60-59 with seven minutes left in the game.
The game would be back and forth from there with the two teams trading the lead and tying the game several times. With Hampden-Sydney down one point with 3:31 left, Dylan Shiflett would make one free throw and a tip-in shot to go up four with 2:41 left. Mike Murray (Norfolk, VA / Norfolk Christian) would tie the game with 1:20 to go when he made two free throws and one jump shot, but Randolph responded with a Corey Brown fade away jumper at 47 seconds.
A Murray turnover with 37 seconds left gave the ball back to Randolph, and the Tigers were forced to foul. Mike Ehilegbu made the first free throw and missed the second, and Murray quickly scored a layup with 3.8 seconds left to make it a 74-73 game. H-SC fouled immediately, and Ehilegbu made both free throws to go up 76-73. Following a Hampden-Sydney timeout, the Tigers turned over the ball to end the game.
Murray scored 23 points with five rebounds. He made 7-of-10 field goal attempts, 4-of-7 three pointers, and 5-of-6 free throws. Williamson scored 14 points with eight rebounds and six blocks as he made 6-of-8 shots. Sasha Obradovic (Belgrade, Serbia / Hawaii Prep) scored 14 points as he drained four of his five three point tries.
Ehilegbu led Randolph with 23 points and six rebounds as he shot 6-of-7 on three attempts and 7-10 overall. Corey Brown scored 16 points with five assists and converted 7-of-10 shots. Dylan Shiflett also tacked on 14 points.
Both teams shot over 50% for the game, while H-SC went 11-26 from three and Randolph was 13-22. The Tigers struggled at the free throw line, shooting just 10-for-18 compared to a 7-11 performance from the WildCats.
Hampden-Sydney hosts Randolph-Macon College on Wednesday at 7 pm.
