Greensboro, NC - Hanes Gymnasium was the site of Greensboro Men's Basketball's home opener for the 2023-2024 season and the gym was packed with fans from Randolph College and Greensboro College. The Wildcats were able to come out on top in this one 50-49, improving their record to 2-1 on the season while the Pride fall to 0-3. 

It was a close game for much of the day, as Randolph held the lead most of the way. Greensboro got out to an early 5-2 lead before the Wildcats went on an 8-0 run to take a 10-5 advantage. The Pride offense struggled for much of the first half, and at one point Greensboro found themselves down 21-9. 

Trajan Weatherspoon helped keep the Pride in the game, hitting a layup to bring the score down to a 25-14 Wildcats lead late in the first half. Greensboro shot 6-23 from the floor in half number one while Randolph shot 10-27. The biggest difference for the Wildcats came from three point land, as they hit 5 three pointers in the first half. 

The second half was almost the complete opposite for both sides, as Greensboro's offense came to life while Randolph's offense struggled to score. The Pride would climb all the way back and take the lead 43-42 with 7:30 to play after going on a 12-2 run. Leading the comeback was Isaiah Pruett, who scored a team high 17 points for Greensboro. Senior Matthew Brown was another key for the Pride in their comeback, collecting 2 blocks on the defensive end of the floor.

The Wildcats quickly re-took the lead after a Landon Wagoner three pointer. After trading buckets for the next 6 minutes, Pruett tied tied the game at 48-48 on a fastbreak layup with 1 minute to play. Greensboro then took the lead two possessions later after Tim Boulware hit a free throw to make it a 49-48 lead.

With just under 20 seconds to play, Wildcats' Danny Bickey scored the eventual game-winning jumper to put Randolph ahead 50-49. Bickey scored a game high 22 points on 9-22 shooting from the floor. The Pride had a chance to take the lead in the final seconds, but Wildcats guard Cole Perry came up with a big steal that would essentially seal the win. 

For Greensboro, it is the second straight loss by 1 point. Matthew Brown scored 8 points and pulled down 8 rebounds for the Pride in this one, while Javion Majette also scored 8 points in 22 minutes of play.

Greensboro hits their home court again next Saturday when they host Carolina University. Tip-off is set for 4:00 PM.