Even though the Southwestern Randolph Cougars scored an imposing 57 points on Friday, the Randleman Tigers still came out on top. Randleman skirted past Southwestern Randolph 60-57. Given Randleman's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 168th, while Southwestern Randolph is ranked 478th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Randleman found their leader in underclassman Connor Cassidy, who scored 24 points along with seven rebounds. Those 24 points set a new season-high mark for him. Tyshaun Goldston was another key contributor, scoring ten points along with seven rebounds.
When it comes to explaining why Southwestern Randolph lost, one person who can't be blamed is Marcus Robertson. Despite the final result, he scored 25 points along with nine rebounds. That's the first time this season that Robertson pulled down eight or more rebounds. Another player making a difference was Nathan Ellis, who scored ten points along with five assists and five rebounds.
Randleman has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 10-4 record this season. As for Southwestern Randolph, their loss dropped their record down to 3-11.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Randleman will take on Uwharrie Charter at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Uwharrie Charter is coming into the game on a four-game losing streak. As for Southwestern Randolph, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Eastern Randolph at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. One thing working in Eastern Randolph's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last six contests.
