Box Score

St. Mary's, Md. – Randolph-Macon went on an 11-2 run five minutes into the second half and never looked back, defeating Franklin & Marshall 73-65 in the NCAA Division III Elite Eight Saturday night. The Yellow Jackets scored 33 points from behind the arc while their defense limited F&M to just three points from three-point land.

Randolph-Macon (26-6) went up eight points, 47-39 on their game-leading run that lasted just over four minutes. F&M (26-5) answered back scoring seven straight points to come within a point, 46-47 at 10:54. The Yellow Jackets countered hitting four treys in route to a 16-6 run to take a 63-52 edge with just over five minutes remaining in the game.

F&M slowing chipped away at the lead, coming within three points courtesy of a Steve Tolliver trey with 32 ticks on the clock. Randolph-Macon hit five of their six attempts from the stripe over the final 30 seconds to seal the victory.

The game started out in a defensive battle with only 27 total points scored half way through the opening stanza. Hayk Gyokchyan's layup at 9:55 gave F&M a 16-11 lead. The lead didn't last long as the Yellow Jackets outscored F&M 13-2, taking their first lead of game and holding a six-point, 24-18, advantage at 4:45.

F&M rallied off seven unanswered points to retake the lead, 25-24 with 2:51 remaining in the half. The teams traded buckets over the final minutes and the Yellow Jackets held a 28-27 edge going into the break.

James McNally scored over 20 points for the third time in the NCAA playoffs this season, finishing with a team-high 22. McNally shot 9-for-15 from the floor and went 4-for-6 from the line. He added six boards and two steals. McNally finished the postseason averaging 23.5 points and 9.25 boards over four games.

Georgio Milligan shot 60% from floor, scoring 15 points and collected four steals. Milligan played all forty minutes of the contest and had four assists. Mike Baker was the third Diplomat to score in double-figures with 14 points. Baker was 6-for-8 from the floor and 2-for-3 from the stripe. Anthony Brooks contributed nine points for the Diplomats.

Three players scored in double-digits for the Yellow Jackets. Eric Pugh scored a game-high 23 points shooting 5-for-7 from behind the arc and 7-for-10 from the floor. Danny Jones and Calvin Croskey had 14 and 10 points respectively.

RANDOLPH-MACON 73, FRANKLIN & MARSHALL 65

RANDOLPH-MACON (26-6)

PUGH, Eric 7-10 4-5 23; JONES, Danny 6-11 1-2 14; CROSKEY, Calvin 4-10 0-0 10; DESGAIN, Adam 1-6 4-4 7; BROWN, Jordan 2-3 1-2 6; BRAXTON, Brandon 2-8 2-2 6; SCHEELER, Thomas 2-4 1-2 6; VOELKEL, Kevin 0-1 1-2 1; CAMPION, Billy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 14-19 73.

FRANKLIN & MARSHALL (26-5)

James McNally 9-15 4-6 22; Georgio Milligan 6-10 3-6 15; Mike Baker 6-8 2-3 14; Anthony Brooks 3-7 3-3 9; Steve Tolliver 1-4 0-2 3; Hayk Gyokchyan 1-1 0-0 2; Dontae Johnson 0-0 0-0 0; Justin Driver 0-0 0-0 0; Brandon Beckford 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 26-49 12-20 65.

Randolph-Macon................   28   45  -   73

Franklin & Marshall...........   27   38  -   65

3-point goals--Randolph-Macon 11-20 (PUGH, Eric 5-7; CROSKEY, Calvin 2-5; DESGAIN, Adam 1-4; BROWN, Jordan 1-1; JONES, Danny 1-1; SCHEELER, Thomas 1-2), Franklin & Marshall 1-9 (Steve Tolliver 1-4; Georgio Milligan 0-1; Mike Baker 0-1; Brandon Beckford 0-3).

Fouled out--Randolph-Macon-None, Franklin & Marshall-Steve Tolliver.

Rebounds--Randolph-Macon 35 (VOELKEL, Kevin 6; DESGAIN, Adam 6), Franklin & Marshall 22 (James McNally 6).

Assists--Randolph-Macon 14 (PUGH, Eric 6), Franklin & Marshall 9 (Georgio Milligan 4). Total fouls--Randolph-Macon 19, Franklin & Marshall 18.

Technical fouls--Randolph-Macon-None, Franklin & Marshall None.

A-398