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ASHLAND, Va.--The Hood College men's basketball team (5-5) held a 10-point lead on the No. 11 Randolph-Macon College Yellow Jackets (9-2), but could not sustain the upperhand, falling 56-46 Thursday evening at the R-MC Coaches Classic Sponsored by Kay Jewelers.

The Blazers connected on five of their first seven shots from the field to start the contest and took a seven-point edge (16-10) on Herb Bowen's second triple midway through the half. Jamal Bell gave Hood its largest lead of the night, 26-16, on a layup with 2:45 left in the opening stanza. But the Yellow Jackets scored the final six points of the period and cut the deficit to 26-22 at halftime.

Hood buried 4-of-8 from three-point range in the first half and Brenden Straughn poured in 10 of Hood's 26 first-half points. The Blazers also limited two of R-MC's leading scorers, Eric Pugh and Brandon Braxton, to just 3-of-11 shooting in the first 20 minutes.

The Blazers and Yellow Jackets nailed three consecutive treys to start second half, but a dunk by Braxton at the 17:39 mark gave the hosts their first lead (30-29) since the 13:52 mark of first half.

The two teams traded baskets for the next several possessions before a LaVar Rich layup tied the score at 39-39 with 7:31 to play in regulation. Hood, which was plagued by foul trouble throughout the contest and had three players foul out (including two starters), was unable to regain the lead down the stretch.

R-MC, which ranks fourth in NCAA Division III in scoring defense, held Hood to its lowest scoring output of the season.

Straughn paced the Blazers with 14 points while Bowen added 10. R-MC's Danny Jones led all scorers with 19 points as the Yellow Jackets won their fifth straight matchup.

Hood looks to get back into the win column Friday against Averett University at 2 p.m.