The Yellow Jackets ran away from the Thunder in the first half and held them at arm's-length the rest of the way. Randolph-Macon athletics photo by Mike Tripp, Sideline Media Productions

Randolph-Macon started fast and finished strong as the top-ranked Yellow Jackets outlasted No. 2 Trine 69-55 on Sunday in Ashland, Virginia.

The game, the first meeting of No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the D3hoops.com Top 25 in more than four years, was the equivalent of a basketball postseason bowl game, a game between the champions of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association in a year in which the Division III basketball NCAA Tournament was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Game preview from Ryan Scott
• Box score

Randolph-Macon used its superior depth and a copious amount of defense to get past Trine and improve to 12-0. Trine fell to 17-1. It marks the end of Trine's season, although Randolph-Macon and Yeshiva, ranked No. 5 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25, have been deep in discussions about arranging a meeting.

The Yellowjackets used runs of 12-0 and 12-2 to open up a 28-12 lead with 6:25 remaining in the first half before a Christian Knox 3-pointer and back-to-back jumpers by Nick Bowman cut the lead to 32-23.

Buzz Anthony and Ian Robertson helped the Yellow Jackets start the second half on a 10-0 run, helping R-MC take a 46-24 advantage three minutes in. The Yellow Jackets were able to maintain a double-digit lead until a trey by Aiden Warzecha cut it to nine at 61-52 with 4:25 remaining. A driving layup by Mallory followed by a steal and layup by Talbert over the next two minutes pushed the advantage back to 13 at 65-52. Talbert had another layup and a dunk by Robertson put an exclamation points on the 69-55 victory.

Sophomore Miles Mallory scored a game-high 16 points, Anthony added 15, Robertson scored 14 off the bench and Josh Talbert added 12 with six assists in the win. The Yellow Jackets shot 57 percent from the floor and 42 percent from beyond the arc in the win.

Meanwhile, Trine was not able to go as deep. Brent Cox got hurt for the Thunder and was only able to give six points in 12 minutes. Bowman, who has been huge for Trine all year, scored 15 points but was 6-for-18 in the process.

"As I told their team after the game, we've had extra time to prepare and watch videos," said Trine coach Brooks Miller, "and we've been searching and searching for chinks in the armor and it was really difficult to find any - there wasn't a whole lot we were going to be able to take advantage of. They're the No. 1 team in the country for a reason."

Miller did address the Randolph-Macon team after the game, before the teams left the floor. He and Yellow Jackets coach Josh Merkel had a long exchange after the game as well.

"I have so much respect for them coming out here. I can't tell you enough," Merkel said. "They play the right way - really tough and physical, but they do it without fouling. I was very impressed - how they carried themselves and their approach. I hope they win every game next year."