Hampden-Sydney erased an eight-point halftime deficit and rolled in the second half to defeat the Randolph College WildCats 84-77 on Wednesday night.

THE BASICS

• Final Score: Hampden-Sydney 84, Randolph 77
• Records: Hampden-Sydney 6-16, 3-10 ODAC; Randolph 5-17, 2-11 ODAC
• Location: Hampden-Sydney, VA – Fleet Gymnasium

HOW IT HAPPENED

• While the Tigers shot well from all over the court throughout the night, turnovers and defensive rebounding plagued H-SC in the first half with Randolph grabbing 10 offensive rebounds for 11 second chance points in the first 20 minutes
• Following back to back buckets by Brendan McHale and Nick Chase to put H-SC ahead 8-6, the WildCats went on a 20-6 run to go ahead 26-14 with 9:51 left in the first half
• H-SC clawed back into the game as the Tigers scored the next 11, eight coming courtesy of Chase, to draw within one, 26-25, at 6:55
• Down 33-29 at 3:51, Randolph posted nine of the of the next 11 to go out in front 42-31 with 34 seconds to play, but Malik Crute drained a triple with six seconds left to trim the deficit to eight
• The Tigers took over from the start in the second half as H-SC needed less than two minutes to take the lead behind efficient shooting and an improved defensive effort
• Kevin Quinn canned consecutive triples to draw within two, Chase tied it at 42 on a layup at 18:39, then a Guilherme Guimaraes free throw at 18:05 put H-SC up 1
• The eruption didn't stop there as Guimaraes tossed in a layup and Quinn drained another trifecta to finish off a 14-0 run and give H-SC a 48-42 advantage
• The WildCats managed to get within three at 15:51, but H-SC utilized an 8-0 run, highlighted by a Crute dunk, to regain a 10-point lead at 12:43
• Both teams struggled on offense over the next few minutes with a bevy of missed shots and turnovers, but the Tigers remained in the lead at 62-50 at the 8:10 mark
• Ahead by six at 7:18, McHale found Chaise Johnson for back-to-back three pointers to push the Tiger lead to a game-high 12 with 5:50 to play
• The WildCats cut the deficit to just four, 79-75, with 54 seconds left on the clock, but a Chase baseball pass found Crute behind the Randolph press for a tomahawk jam, and H-SC would go on to close out the game on the foul line

TIGER TOP PERFORMERS

• Malik Crute scored 21 points on just eight field goal attempts. He shot 7-8 overall, 2-3 from three, and 5-6 from the foul line. He added five rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocks
• Nick Chase tallied 16 points with three rebounds and three assists
• Kevin Quinn added 16 points and four boards
• Chaise Johnson contributed 10 points and six caroms
• Brendan McHale posted nine points, four rebounds, three assists, and two blocks
• Justin Reid reeled in a game-high seven rebounds

FOR THE FOES

• Sammy Hooper scored 23 with five assists
• Ryan Fields registered 13 points and six boards
• Elijah Ford scored 12 points

STATS OF THE GAME

• After allowing 10 offensive rebounds, 11 second chance points, and 44.4% shooting in the first half while forcing just three turnovers, the Tigers gave up just one offensive rebound, two second chance points, 39.4% shooting, and forced 7 turnovers after the break
• For the game, H-SC shot 57.8% compared to a 42.6% mark for Randolph.
• Both teams made 10 three pointers, but Hampden-Sydney made 56% of their tries while Randolph converted at a 40% clip
• Aided by late game WildCat fouling, the Tigers were 22-27 at the charity stripe, but the WildCats were just 9-13
• H-SC had 22 giveaways leading to 29 Randolph points off turnovers. Randolph posted 10 turnovers, resulting in nine Hampden-Sydney points
• Hampden-Sydney was +6 on the glass but Randolph led 13-5 in second chance points

NEXT GAME

• Hampden-Sydney heads to Bridgewater for the final regular season road game with tip time scheduled for 2 pm.