ASHLAND, Va. – The Salisbury University men's basketball team collected its first loss of the 2021 campaign with a 79-55 stumble on the road to the Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets, who was ranked No. 1 in the nation in NCAA Division III by Basketball Times.

BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The two teams traded the lead three times in the first five-plus minutes of the game. Brandon Craig accounted for six of Salisbury's first eight points of the contest.
• The Sea Gulls held onto their lead for the first six minutes of the half until the Yellow Jackets began to pull away after the Sea Gulls got cold from the field. After a Jordan Oates putback cut the Yellow Jacket advantage to 22-17 with 8:55 left in the first half, the Sea Gulls went on a scoring drought that ended with a Gary Briddell layup on a Johnny Fierstein assist with just over 1:30 on the first-half clock.
• A Briddell three and Paul Garcia lay-in allowed Salisbury to trim the Randolph-Macon lead to 40-28 at halftime.
• Salisbury trimmed the R-MC lead to an 11-point margin three minutes into the second half when a Rob Goyena offensive rebound and putback made it a 47-36 game.
• Two long second-half scoring runs would extend Randolph-Macon's advantage and put away Salisbury, 79-55.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Gary Briddell paced the scoring for Salisbury. He notched 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting with three rebounds and two assists.
• Johnny Fierstein pulled down a game-best ten rebounds and added four assists. Fierstein and Jasiah Perry both recorded eight points. 
• Brandon Craig earned six points, three rebounds and a pair of assists.
• Rob Goyena and Jordan Oates each tallied five points for the maroon and gold. Off the bench, Oates collected five rebounds. 
• Salisbury held the 5-4 edge in blocks over Randolph-Macon.
• Salisbury shot 38.9 percent (21-54) from the field.

RANDOLPH-MACON GAME NOTES

• Buzz Anthony led all scorers with 30 points for Randolph-Macon. Anthony also added six rebounds and five assists.
• Lorenzo Woods (13) and Ian Robertson (10) also reached double-digit points for R-MC.
• Miles Mallory collected nine rebounds for the Jackets.
• Randolph-Macon shot 46.8 percent (29-62) from the field and 38.9 percent (7-18) from the three.

UP NEXT

• Salisbury's four-game road trip continues on Saturday, Jan. 30 in Lancaster, Pa. against the Lancaster Bible Chargers.
• The game is set to begin at 4 p.m.