FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Elmhurst University men's basketball team's magical season came to a close as the Bluejays finished as the national runner-up after falling 75-45 to top-ranked Randolph-Macon College in the NCAA Division III Championship game.

Elmhurst delivered a season for the ages, culminating in a fantastic end-of-season run at the NCAA Tournament. The Bluejays set a school record for single-season victories (27) while winning its second CCIW Tournament in three seasons to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Bluejays defeated Washington & Jefferson and Pomona-Pitzer at a packed R.A. Faganel Hall to reach the Sweet 16 for just the third time in school history. The following weekend, the Bluejays rallied to defeat Calvin and then toppled sixth-ranked Mary-Hardin Baylor in overtime to reach the Final Four for the first time in school history. The Bluejays hammered Wabash College 90-68 in the national semifinals on Friday to reach the NCAA Title game for the first time in school history and finished as the national runner-up after dropping the title game to Randolph-Macon.
 
In the contest, Elmhurst (27-7) struggled to get on track offensively against one of the nations top-ranked defensive teams. Elmhurst fell behind early as Randolph-Macon opened up a 15-8 lead before Lavon Thomas canned the Bluejays' first 3-pointer of the night. Trailing 17-11, Elmhurst rattled off a 7-0 run keyed by a pair of jumpers from Jonathan Zapinski to take its first lead of the game. Randolph-Macon responded with an 10-0 run fueled by 3-pointers from Ian Robertson and Daquan Morris to open up a nine-point lead at 27-18. A 3-pointer from Jake Rhode ended the run for the Yellowjackets, but Randolph-Macon used back-to-back treys from Buzz Anthony and Robertson to take its largest lead of the half at 35-23. Will Coble's 3-pointer gave the Yellowjackets a 38-23 lead at the half.
 
Elmhurst struggled with its shooting in the half, hitting just 9-of-32 shots (28.1 percent), including 2-of-13 (15.4 percent) from beyond the arc. Randolph-Macon shot 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) from downtown and won the rebounding battle 24-16 in the opening half of play.
 
The two teams traded buckets to start the second half before Randolph-Macon opened up a 17-point lead after a Daniel Mbangue bucket. Elmhurst used a 6-1 run to trim the deficit down to 12, but Morris hit an open 3-pointer to push the Yellowjackets' lead back to 15 (53-38) at the under-12 media timeout. The Bluejays suffered through a five minute scoring drought while Randolph-Macon scored nine straight points to open up a 62-38 lead with seven minutes remaining. Elmhurst came no closer as Randolph-Macon closed out the contest to win the national title.
 
Elmhurst struggled with its shooting for most of the night, shooting 27.4 percent (`17-of-62) from the floor and only 13.0 percent (3-of-23) from beyond the arc. Randolph-Macon shot 47.4 percent (27-of-57) from the field and 34.8 percent (8-of-23) from downtown. The Yellowjackets outrebounded the Bluejays 42-35 and outscored Elmhurst in the paint 36-18.
 
Lavon Thomas led the Bluejays in the loss with 10 points and eight rebounds. Jake Rhode finished with nine points while Ocean Johnson scored seven and collected six rebounds. Wesley Hooker added six points and six rebounds while Dominic Genco scored six for Elmhurst.
 
Randolph-Macon was led by Josh Talbert's 15 points and 11 rebounds. Buzz Anthony added 14 points and four assists while Miles Mallory and Mbangue added 10 points apiece. Mallory finished with nine rebounds as well.