Lynchburg, Va. -- University of Lynchburg's men's basketball team was defeated by No. 1 Randolph-Macon, 70-62, on Thursday evening in the 2021 Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship on Wayne Proffitt Court. 

The Hornets (6-4) came out of the gate hot as Lynchburg scored first after senior Isräel Lockamy hit one from downtown.

Lynchburg quickly got out to an 11-6 lead after a Lockamy free throw, but the Yellow Jackets (10-0) stormed back to tie the game up at 11-11. Both teams continued to go back-and-forth for the remainder of the first half, but after R-MC took only its second lead of the half on a Josh Talbert 3-pointer, Lynchburg had the last shot on a 3-ball from senior Luke Romeo to send the Hornets into the lockeroom up, 33-31. 

Lynchburg's lead did not last long at the start of the second half as the Yellow Jackets quickly tied the contest on two early free throws from Buzz Anthony and a made layup from David Funderberg. The Hornets tied the game at 37-37 with 16:40 left to play, however, after an R-MC 3-pointer put the Yellow Jackets up 40-37 at the 15:33 mark, the Hornets would not be able to regain a lead for the remainder of the contest.

Lynchburg was led on the night by seniors Lockamy, T.C. Thacker and Tharon Suggs. Thacker recorded his seventh double-double on the year with 19 points and 14 boards; Suggs put up 11 with five rebounds and four assists; and Lockamy had nine points on the night to round out the Hornet offense.

Thacker and Suggs both represented the Hornets on the 2021 ODAC championship all-tournament team. Over the three tournament games, Thacker averaged 20.3 points per game and 19.3 boards while Suggs averaged 13.6 points and 8.3 rebounds. Thacker's 58 rebounds shattered the previous ODAC tournament record.

The 2020-21 season was the Hornets' 10th straight season over the .500 mark -- all under head coach Hilliary Scott. This was the first season that Lynchburg advanced to the ODAC tournament championship since 2016.

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--LYN--