RBC HOOPS FALL AT PATRICK HENRY

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – The fifth ranked Richard Bland men's basketball team came up short in a 85-82 decision to Patrick Henry Community College in a Region X matchup on Wednesday night.

The loss drops the Statesmen to 18-3 overall and 10-2 in the league while the Patriots improve to 12-5 overall and 9-2 in league play.

Reginald Moses (Henrico, VA) scored a team-high 18 points, following Brian Adkins (Aberdeen, MD) with 13 points while both Tavon Mealy (Richmond, VA) and Avery Ugba (Silver Springs, MD) added 12 points each.

RBC opened up the first half with an alley-oop dunk from Adkins from LeQuan Thomas (Virginia Beach, VA) to put the Statesmen on board first. That dunk sparked a 6-2 run for the Statesmen but the Patriots would soon answer back with a layup from Jacob Traore at the 17:43 mark.

The Patriots would tie the game at 6 apiece and ultimately take a seven point lead with 8:24 left in the first half. The Statesmen would trail the remaining of the first half, 23-36 going into the locker room.

To start the second half, Adkins got a steal and soared in the air for a slam dunk to cut the deficit, 37-25 but Jashad Jamison answered back to stretch the lead back to 14.

The Patriots would eventually run the lead up to 19 points with 9:04 left in the game but the Statesmen continued to claw their way back into the game.

Although RBC tried to cut the lead as time ran off the clock, it would not be enough to take the game. The Statesmen would only get within nine points with 39 seconds remaining and a good 3-pointer by Evan Bates (Midlothian, VA) as the buzzer sounded off would not be enough to send the game into overtime.

The Statesmen accounted for 40 points in the paint to the Patriots 30 but it was the Patriots bench who shined throughout the game as they outscored RBC, 53-26.

RBC returns to Statesman Hall on Saturday, Jan. 31 when they welcome Guilford Tech for a 3 p.m. tip-off.

For more information on RBC men's basketball, please visit www.rbcathletics.com.

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