Lynchburg, VA – For the second straight day, the Regent University Men's Basketball Team was in the Hill City as they completed a weekend road trip with a match-up Sunday afternoon against Randolph College. The two teams are no strangers to each other and there was also a back story with the Coaches. Head Coach Michael Allen and Randolph Head Coach Evan Kee worked together at another institution, while Associate Head Coach Barry Hollenbeck was an Assistant Coach under Kee at that institution, where they won a National Championship together. However, today they were on opposite sidelines, and the Royals were looking to beat the Wildcats for the first time in program history.
The first twenty minutes of the game brought some excitement for the Regent players and fans. Junior Antoine Brown (Chesapeake, VA) put the Royals on the board first with a quick layup slashing through traffic. Brown followed that up with a quick jumper off an assist from Junior Forward Dorian Tema (Frederick, MD). Tema then found his way to the basket and scored two points of his own. Regent pushed hard on both sides of the ball, and after Sophomore Christian Brown (Chesapeake, VA) drained two three-pointers and a dunk in less than 45 seconds, the Royals held a sizable advantage. With the Regent offense rolling off some excellent assists and defensive rebounds, they fought to the free-throw line to end the half leading the Wildcats 43-28.
Once the whistle started the second half, the Royals began letting the ball fly from deep. C. Brown drained a three-pointer to begin the team's scoring output and Senior Brendan Goods (Melbourne, FL) added another deep ball in hopes of closing the game out. However, Randolph fought back with some quick scores of their own and cut the deficit to 10 points. The next 15 minutes began a battle at the free-throw line, with neither team seeming to gain an advantage. Down the stretch, Senior Darrin Clark (Suffolk, VA) and Freshman Grant Worley (Chesapeake, VA) added a few buckets of their own to push Regent to the finish line and as the final buzzer sounded, the Royals would get their first ever win over Randolph by a final score of 84-74.
C. Brown finished with 28 points, tying his career high and he also led the Regent in rebounds, assists, and steals. In addition, Worley added 12 points, while Tema and A. Brown each had 9 points. The Royals were successful against Randolph defensively as well, outpacing them in both steals and blocks.
Regent will be back in action on Friday, November 21st when they travel to Williamsburg for an exhibition with NCAA DI William & Mary at 11:00am before hosting Gallaudet University on Saturday, November 22nd for their home opener. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00pm.
