ASHLAND, Va.—The Randolph-Macon College basketball team overcame a five-point deficit in the final two minutes to slip past Hobart College 59-57 in the championship game of the R-MC Coaches Tournament sponsored by Kay Jewelers.
Tournament MVP Buzz Anthony made nine points in the finishing charge on his way to a season-high 16 points. The Yellow Jackets (8-3) trailed 55-50 after sophomore
Tucker Lescoe made a pair of free throws with just under two minutes remaining. Anthony made a layup at the other end of the floor, came up with a steal on Hobart's ensuing possession and netted another layup to make it a one-point game with just over a minute left.
Following another Hobart turnover, Anthony converted a traditional three-point play to put R-MC in front 57-55. The Statesmen (6-3) had a chance to tie in the final 20 seconds, but missed a shot with about 17 seconds left. Anthony sank two free throws to stretch the lead to four before junior
Jamal Lucas' layup with 4.7 seconds left wrapped up the scoring. The Yellow Jackets were able to inbound the ball and run out the clock.
Sophomore forward
Sam Allen and junior
Colin Dougherty both scored 12 points to lead Hobart. Allen led the Statesmen on the glass with a game-high eight board and Dougherty handed out a game-high four assists. Junior
Jamal Lucas contributed 10 points. Coupled with his double-double in yesterday's win over Rowan, Lucas was named to the All-Tournament team.
Anthony was joined in double figures by senior Daniel Noe and junior Grayson Midulla, who netted 12 points each for the Yellow Jackets. Midulla joined Anthony on the All-Tournament Team.
Anthony's heroics saved R-MC from what could have been an epic collapse. The Yellow Jackets got off to a fast start. An Anthony 3-pointer gave the home team a 28-13 lead with under four minutes left in the first half. Hobart was able to trim its deficit to 13 by halftime, trailing 31-18 at the break.
The Statesmen fought their way back into the game with a 13-2 run to start the second half. Allen produced eight of his 12 points during the first four minutes of the second stanza. Hobart took its first lead of the game midway through the half on a 3-pointer by first-year
Dan Masino. With just five minutes to go, Allen converted a layup to give the Statesmen a 53-45 lead, their largest advantage of the game.
The Statesmen outrebounded R-MC 45-20, but Hobart was undone by 20 turnovers.
The Statesmen return to Liberty League play on Friday, Jan. 5, when they travel to RIT. The contest is set to tipoff at 8 p.m.
