Gill, who scored 17 of his 23 in the first half thanks to a 5-for-5 effort from beyond the arc, along with Philip Hawley, who connected on 7-of-9 from the floor en route to scoring 15 points, led a hot-shooting Macon team in the opening stanza as the Yellow Jackets sank 17-of-25 shots (68 percent) to build a 41-31 halftime lead. Tiger sophomore center Davis Bowne (Hickory, NC/St. Stephen’s) kept Hampden-Sydney alive with ten first-half points, while freshman guard A.J. Dowell (Roanoke, VA/Salem) scored eight points and hit the Tigers only two three-pointers of the half.
In the second half, three pointers by Justin Wansley and Patrick Gill sparked an 8-2 Yellow Jacket charge as R-MC held a 16 point advantage (49-33) with 16:55 to play. Free throws by Matt Guill (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus) and a jumper by Mike Edwards (Richmond, VA/Steward School) started a 14-2 Tiger rally, while a switch to a zone defense slowed down the Macon assault as the Tigers trimmed the lead to four points, 51-47, with 8:47 to play.
Randolph-Macon guard Stephen Sutherland hit a three pointer with one second remaining on the shot clock to push the Yellow Jackets back up by seven, 54-47, but Mike Edwards countered with a three of his own just seconds later to keep the deficit at four. An Edwards steal and layup then cut the lead to two, 54-52, but Macon again pushed the lead to six thanks to four straight points by Philip Hawley.
A jumper by Matt Guill made the Macon lead just two points, 60-58, with 1:25 to play, but it was as close as the Tigers could get as a Patrick Gill three at the 1:13 mark and free throws by Adam Krovic and Justin Moyer sealed the victory for the Yellow Jackets.
Hampden-Sydney’s defense limited Randolph-Macon to just 29 percent (8-for-27) shooting in the second half, but the Yellow Jackets still managed to hit 25-of-52 (48.1%) from the floor, 10-of-21 (48%) from three point range and 8-of-12 (67%) at the line for the game. Gill finished with 23 on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor, while Hawley had 19 to pace two R-MC players in double figures.
The Tigers shot just 38 percent (23-for-60) from the floor for the game and connected on just 4-of-20 (20%) from beyond the arc and 10-of-16 (63%) from the line. Guill scored a team-high 14 points, while Bowne finished with 12 and Edwards with 11, all in the second half.
Hampden-Sydney won the battle on the boards, 35-34, thanks to 11 offensive rebounds, while the Tigers committed four less turnovers, 10-14.
The Tigers return to action Tuesday, February 15, as the team hosts Lynchburg College at 7 pm in final regular season game of the season.