FERRUM, Va. -- The Ferrum College men's basketball team dropped it's Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) opener to Randolph-Macon College inside of Swartz Gym Saturday evening, 61-57.

RECORDS
Ferrum (1-2, 0-1)
Randolph-Macon (2-0, 1-0)

THE BASICS
It was a low scoring affair midway through the first half, with the score sitting at 10-9 in favor of the Yellow Jackets with just 9:08 to play in the half. Both teams played back and forth, with neither team having a bigger lead than four up until the closing seconds. A Miles Mallory hook in the lane put Randolph-Macon up five at the break, 28-23.

Buzz Anthony and Ian Robertson and Mallory each had six first-half points to lead the way for the Yellow Jackets in the scoring department. Mallory also contributed four boards in the half, a team high. For the Panthers, it was Darius Kemp getting off to a hot start coming off the bench. Kemp had a team high seven points and five rebounds. Kajuan Madden-McAfee had an effective half for the Panthers as well, recording six points to go along with 5 rebounds.

The second stanza saw much of what the first did, with both teams playing even throughout. A Lorenzo Woods floater in the lane with 18:18 to play pushed the lead to eight for the Yellow Jackets as that would stand as the largest lead of the game. Ferrum would then take their first lead of the second half off of a Nick Helton layup, Helton's only points in the contest, just under the 6:00 mark. Two free throws from James Smith Jr. pushed the Panther lead to three, 55-52 with 2:55 to play but the Yellow Jackets ended the game on a 9-2 run. A Mallory trey with :3.5 seconds left would put the game out of reach and propel Randolph-Macon to the 61-57 victory.

Smith Jr. showed up big time in the second half for the Panthers, leading the way with 13 points. Kemp picked up where he left off in the first half, adding seven points and four rebounds to his final line. For Randolph-Macon, it was a big second frame for Mallory. The Yellow Jacket forward scored 13 points to go along with five rebounds. Anthony added eight points and Woods added 8 points to go along with five rebounds.

KEY STATS
Ferrum: Smith Jr. 15 pts, 3 reb; Kemp 14 pts, 9 reb, 4 ast; Madden-McAfee 10 pts, 8 reb
Randolph-Macon: Mallory 19 pts, 9 reb; Anthony 14 pts, 4 ast; Woods 12 pts, 7 reb 

BEHIND THE WHISTLE
"Great effort from our guys this afternoon. Obviously the result is disappointing, but we fought hard and executed well against a really good team. After the way we played last week, practice was tough throughout the week and our guys responded. I am very proud of how connected we were on both sides of the floor. It was a good step for our program, but it's time to get back to work." --Head Coach Tyler Sanborn

UP NEXT
Sanborn's squad will hit the hardwood again Thursday night to take on the Maroons of Roanoke College. The road contest is set for a 7 p.m. start inside the Cregger Center.