For immediate release – 2/18/2012 - #236
Hornet Men's Basketball Rallies for 65-61 Win Over Randolph on Senior Day

LYNCHBURG, VA – The Lynchburg College men's basketball team rallied for an important 65-61 victory Saturday afternoon over visiting Randolph College in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) play. The Hornets enter the ODAC Championship Tournament next week with a first-round bye.

The WildCats opened two leads of 12 points in the first half, the second at 13:54 (19-7). The Hornets used a 10-4 run to pull within four, but Randolph opened the lead to nine (35-26) with two minutes remaining in the half. Down seven and the game clock winding down, sophomore Manny Hernandez drilled a 30-footer at the buzzer to cut RC's lead to 36-32.

Randolph's biggest advantage of the second half came three minutes in at 41-33, and the game was tight the rest of the way. The Hornets took a one-point lead at the 11-minute mark, but Randolph quickly regained the advantage. Chris Battaglia hit a three-pointer for the WildCats with 4:40 remaining to put the visitors up 58-54. Junior Michael Wims scored a two-point basket and senior Nate Campbell nailed a three-pointer to give LC the lead for good 59-58 with under four to play. Ahead 61-59 and the shot clock winding down, Xavier Parham drilled a three-pointer under pressure with under a minute to play to extend the lead to five. The LC defense held tough down the stretch, forcing seven-straight misses from three-point range in the final four minutes.

Junior center Austin Chillemi scored a game-high 14 points for LC and grabbed six rebounds. Parham hit four of his five shots and both of his three-point attempts to finish with 11 points, and senior Nate Campbell delivered 10 points and nine rebounds in his last game in Turner Gymnasium. Robby Kaiser hit three three-pointers and had 10 points while junior Michael Wims contributed nine points and 11 caroms.

Colton Hunt paced the WildCats (12-13/7-9 ODAC) with 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Derrick Woods-Morrow tallied 11 points and 11 rebounds and Mike Ehilegbu posted 11 points and five rebounds. Zach Desgain grabbed 10 rebounds and Battaglia had nine points and five rebounds.  

The ODAC Tournament first-round begins Tuesday, while LC (15-10/9-7 ODAC) will advance directly into the second round Friday in Salem, VA. The complete tournament bracket will be released this weekend on the conference website at: http://www.odaconline.com/sports/mbkb/index

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