Lynchburg, VA – After opening the season in Maryland, the Regent University Men's Basketball team ventured west on Route 460 Friday night for a match-up with ODAC member, the University of Lynchburg. The two teams have only met once, back in 2023, with the Hornets coming away with the win. However, the Royals were confident after putting together a strong comeback in their season opener. They were looking to carry that momentum over to tonight's game and pull off a win on the road.
The first half began with Lynchburg scoring the first nine points, until Junior Antoine Brown (Chesapeake, VA) grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a floater to stop the run. A few plays later, A. Brown would do it again, this time draining a three-pointer from the baseline. Free throws by Senior Darrin Clark (Suffolk, VA) and Freshman Chase Mullen (Virginia Beach, VA) trimmed the deficit to four points and suddenly Regent was back in the game. After a Hornets' score, Junior Dorian Tema (Frederick, MD) took a pass, and drove past his defender for a layup and that was followed by a floater from Senior Joshua Vogt (Rochester, NY). The Royals continued to chip away as Senior Brendan Goods (Melbourne, FL) converted a three-point play and on the next possession Freshman Grant Worley (Chesapeake, VA) drew a big offensive charge. That allowed Clark to drive the ball at the other end of the court to give the Royals their first lead of the game, 18-17. They would fall behind again, but Clark found A. Brown in the corner who squared up for a three-pointer to reclaim the advantage. The lead would change a few times, but Worley slipped past a Lynchburg defender for a layup and then followed that up with a three-pointer. However, as the teams headed to the locker room, Regent trailed 42-34.
C. Brown started the second half off with a three-pointer and a few possessions later he scored again off a layup. Goods would keep up the scoring as he dribbled in for a turnaround jumper, but the Hornets answered. Freshman Darcy Minega (Kigali, Rwanda) began to heat up as he scored five straight points off a jumper and a three-point shot going into the media timeout. A layup by Goods kept the deficit under double-digits, but Lynchburg began to go on a run and stretched their lead to 17 points. However, the Royals kept pushing as Vogt found a cutting A. Brown for a layup, and he would add more from the free throw line. Unfortunately, Regent could not get any closer and would fall by a final score of 82-66.
A. Brown finished the game with 15 points, while Goods added 11 points and Worley had 9 points.
The Royals will stay in Lynchburg and be back in action tomorrow, Sunday, November 16th when they face Randolph College. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00pm.
