No. 16 Randolph-Macon Headed to First-Ever “Final Four”
St. Mary’s City, Md. – Junior guard Eric Pugh (Silver Spring, Md./James Blake) notched 15 of his game-high 23 points in the second half to propel Randolph-Macon College to the program’s first-ever “Final Four” as the No. 16 Yellow Jackets posted a 73-65 triumph over No. 18 Franklin & Marshall College in Saturday night’s NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship sectional final.
Randolph-Macon (26-6) advances to next weekend’s “Final Four” at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va. and will face No. 5 University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, a 72-56 winner over Illinois Wesleyan College.
Joining Pugh in double-digits were junior forward Danny Jones (Herndon, Va./Herndon) with 14 off the bench and sophomore guard Calvin Croskey (Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park) with 10 points.
Randolph-Macon’s sharpshooting continued tonight as the Yellow Jackets knocked down 11 three-pointers (out of 20 tries) with Pugh reining in 5-of-7, including 3-of-4 in the second half, while locking down the Franklin & Marshall perimeter shooters to just 1-of-9 from downtown. In its 68-55 win over DeSales University the night before, R-MC went 9-of-22 from downtown.
Junior forward Kevin Voelkel (Pleasantville, N.Y./Collegiate School) and sophomore guard Adam Desgain (Richmond, Va./J.R. Tucker) combined for 12 rebounds as each hauled in six boards to help R-MC dominate with a 35-22 advantage over the Diplomats.
The turning point of the game happened with 8:07 remaining in the first half as the Yellow Jackets forged a 13-2 run capped by junior guard Thomas Scheeler’s (Mahanoy City, Pa./Mahanoy Area) trey at 4:45, giving Randolph-Macon a 24-18 bulge – its first lead of the game.
After a junior forward James McNally (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) jumper returned the lead to F&M at 2:51, Pugh and Closkey scored four straight points to boost R-MC, 28-25, at 1:39. Junior forward Mike Baker’s (Maryland Heights, Mo./Whitfield School) jumper cut the Yellow Jackets’ lead to one at halftime.
McNally paced the Diplomats (26-5) with 22 points after tallying a dozen in the second half. He also grabbed a team-best six caroms while sophomore guard Georgio Milligan (Spring Valley, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep) added 15 points, four assists and four steals. Baker finished in double figures as well with 14 and five rebounds.
Franklin & Marshall edged the Yellow Jackets with a 10-8 start in the first four minutes of the second half to briefly hold the lead. R-MC responded with four three-pointers by four different Yellow Jackets in a 22-11 run that gave them their biggest lead of the game – a 58-48 margin with 7:50 to play. The Diplomats were able to close the gap to 68-65 with 32 seconds left following three-point shot by junior guard Steve Tolliver (Wyncote, Pa./Cheltenham).
The Yellow Jackets went on to close the game with a 5-of-6 effort to seal the deal.
