Men's Basketball | 12/15/2012 3:53:00 PM

Box Score LYNCHBURG, Va. -- Randolph College senior Colton Hunt scored a game-high 28 points and the WildCats shot 59.5 percent from the floor in knocking off the Methodist men's basketball team, 71-56, on Saturday afternoon at the RAD Center.
 
For the game, the WildCats (9-0) hit on 25-of-42 shots from the floor, including 6-of-13 from beyond the and limited the Monarchs (1-5) to 40.0 percent (22-55) shooting and 18.5 percent (5-27) from behind the three-point line.
 
Midway through the first period, the Monarchs received back-to-back layups from Desmond Parker to claim a six-point lead (19-13) with 8:41 left. However, back-to-back three pointers from Randolph's Jason Eddie pulled the WildCats even at 19-19 with 7:52 left in the opening half. A triple from Evan Horn followed by five straight points courtesy of Colton Hunt allowed the WildCats to push out to an eight-point lead (27-19) with 5:21 showing on the clock.
 
James Whitehead then broke the Monarchs' scoreless streak with a triple of his own at the 4:49 mark and Johnel Jones followed with a layup in transition to pull the Monarchs to within three points (27-24) with 4:25 to play and the Monarchs would enter the half down four, 32-28.
 
In the second half, a Tyler Deal three pointer right out of the gate cut the Monarchs' deficit to a single point (32-31) but the WildCats responded with six consecutive points to re-establish a seven-point advantage on a layup by Hunt with 17:44 to play. Deal cut into the WildCats' lead with another triple on the ensuing possession, but four points would be as close as Methodist would pull as Randolph methodically began to pull away down the stretch.
 
Desmond Parker and Brandon Monk led the Monarchs with 12 points apiece and James Whitehead added 10 points. Monk and Bryan Hockaday grabbed a team-best five boards each and Whitehead had six steals.
 
Hunt finished 12-of-20 from the floor and added a game-high eight rebounds to go with five assists and five steals. Chris Battaglia added 13 points and Eddie and Mike Ehilegbu each chipped in nine points.
 
The Monarchs return to action on Sunday when they play at Averett at 2:00 pm.