EMORY, Va. – The Shenandoah University Men's Basketball Team (6-19, 3-13 ODAC) shot 61.3 percent from the field in the second half for a come-from-behind victory over Emory & Henry College (14-11, 8-8 ODAC) Saturday afternoon at Bob Johnson Court.
Emory & Henry jumped out to an 11-1 lead just 3:05 into the game and pushed its advantage to 13 points, 36-23, with 3:17 to go before the half. The Hornets fished the opening 20 minutes on a 12-2 run, drawing the score to 38-35 at the intermission.
After the break, the two teams traded baskets early with the first tie coming with 17:08 to play, 44-44. Shenandoah got its first lead a minute and a half later on a three-pointer by E.J. Baltimore, 49-48. The game would see a total of seven ties and five lead changes, all of which came in the second half. The Hornets went up by a 60-53 score at the 11:21 mark, but Emory & Henry used a 19-10 run to go back ahead seven minutes later. The final six minutes had the score within three points either way.
Emory & Henry tied things up for a final time, 78-78, on a pair of free throws by freshman forward Aaron Ferguson (Princeton, W.Va.) with 33 seconds to go. The Hornets got the go ahead bucket with 3.7 seconds remaining as Kelsey Thomas hit a shot from the left side. E&H had two looks at the basket in the final seconds, a heave from the near side of half court and a contested layup as time expired, however neither attempt fell, giving SU the 80-78 win.
Malcolm Clark and Aaron Patterson led the way for Shenandoah with 19 points each. Clark pulled down eight rebounds and hit a trio of three-pointers while Patterson hit three three's with a pair of assists. Gabriel Gonzalez had 18 points and six rebounds off the bench while Antwan Pittman notched 10 points, four boards and five assists.
The Hornets' dead-eye shooting in the second half resulted in a field goal percentage of 51.7 (30-for-58) for the game, including a 10-for-15 (66.7%) mark from three-point range. Shenandoah led by a 39-16 margin on points in the paint, including a 28-10 tally in the second half alone.
Ferguson posted game-highs in points and rebounds as he tallied a double-double (22 points, 13 rebounds) for the Wasps. Sophomore guard John Shelor (Giles, Va.) hit four three's en route to 16 points and five boards off the bench while senior guard Kevin Anzenberger (Concord, N.C.) went four-for-five from long range for 12 points, adding three steals. Sophomore forward Chase Branscomb (Bristol, Tenn.) chipped in 12 points.
As a team, Emory & Henry shot 40.7 percent (24-for-59) from the floor and hit 12-of-29 (41.4%) of its three-point attempts. The Wasps held a 39-38 rebounding advantage and used it for a 13-8 lead on second-chance points.
Emory & Henry finishes in a four-way tie for fifth place in the ODAC standings. The Wasps earned the fifth seed on tiebreakers and will host a First Round game in the ODAC Tournament. The contest, which is a rematch of Saturday's E&H-SU tangle, will be on Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m.
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-photo courtesy of Caleb Johnston, E&H '15