EMORY, Va. – The Shenandoah University Men's Basketball Team (11-6, 3-5 ODAC) completed the season sweep over Emory & Henry College (2-15, 0-8 ODAC) with an 85-75 win on Bob Johnson Court at the John Rutledge King Center Saturday afternoon. Though the Hornets led the entire game, the Wasps kept the pressure on for 40 minutes and left the outcome in doubt until the final moments of the contest.
SU got out to a 14-4 lead at the 15:49 mark of the first half, but Emory & Henry went on a 5-0 run to close the margin to 14-9. Shenandoah pushed its advantage to double digits, scoring nine of the next 12 points to go up 23-12. The Wasps then surged back into the game and got within one (30-29 with 6:27 on the clock) but a 9-0 run by the Hornets gave them a 39-29 lead. E&H finished the half with a 9-3 run including a shot clock-beating three-pointer by sophomore guard Kevin Anzenberger (Concord, N.C.) to make the score 42-38.
Coming out of the break, the Wasps cut the margin to two immediately on a layup by senior guard Onell Gibson (Sicklerville, N.J.). Shenandoah, however, scored five straight points to go back up by seven. E&H answered with five its own to make the score 49-47 but would get no closer than that the rest of the way. Despite trailing by double digits twice, Emory & Henry continued to fight and was within five points with just over one minute remaining. Though the Hornets struggled from the free throw line all afternoon, they hit seven of 11 attempts down the stretch to seal the game.
Shenandoah was led offensively by Jared Carithers as he put up a game-high 20 points and added two rebounds and three assists. Avery Green had 19 points and five boards while Bryce Mitchell and Jimi Starks registered 12 and 11 points, respectively. The Hornets shot 56.6 percent (30-for-53) from the floor but hit only 21-of-35 (60%) of their free throw attempts. SU claimed a slim margin of 48-46 for points in the paint.
Senior forward Charles Smith (Fayetteville, N.C.) paced Emory & Henry with 16 points and three rebounds while freshman guard Drew Henry (Sterling, Va.) had 10 points off the bench. Junior forward Chavis Hamilton (Marion, N.C.) notched eight points on four-for-five shooting with three rebounds while senior forward Cameron Coles (Charlottesville, Va.) notched seven points, five rebounds and three assists.
Anzenberger was one of four Wasps to finish the game with six points as all 11 players who saw five or more minutes of action found the scoring column. For the game, E&H shot 30-of-66 (45.5%) from the field and hit 10 of its 13 free throws. Emory & Henry led the battle for points off turnovers, 21-8, and held a 38-16 advantage on bench scoring.
Emory & Henry will travel to Lynchburg on Wednesday evening for a matchup against a different set of Hornets. Tipoff for the Old Dominion Athletic Conference contest is set for 7:00 p.m.
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