GREENSBORO, NC – For the third consecutive year, the William Peace men's basketball team will contend for the Guilford College Invitational championship trophy after topping Virginia University of Lynchburg in their season opener. The Pacers led by 18 at halftime, jumped ahead by as many as 26 in the second half, and went on to down the Dragons, 99-81.
WPU (1-0) scored the second most points in program history shooting 34-76 (44.7%) from the field, which included a school record 37 shots from beyond the arc. The Pacers drained 12 of their shots from long distance, two shy of the school record, while Va.-Lynchburg (0-1) only attempted 13 from three-point range knocking two of them down.
"We didn't run too much offensively, but we did a good job driving, kicking and being shot ready," said head coach Claude Shields. "We're probably going to set a few records with the amount of threes we're shooting."
Peace came close to breaking another record as they racked up 12 steals, also the second most in program history, and turned 20 Dragon turnovers into 20 points at the opposite end of the court.
"At times we played really, really well defensively," Shields said. "We got after it, got some deflections, and got some steals that led to easy buckets."
Four different Pacers scored in double-figures led by Nate Strother, who put up a career best 21 points in 16 minutes off the bench. Strother made four of the team's three-pointers and went 5-6 from the charity stripe.
Shawn Shaffer scored 19 points to go along with six rebounds. Chris Thomas scored a career high 13 points while grabbing six boards. Ryan Emfinger established career marks with 12 points and a team leading seven rebounds.
Upperclassmen Bryson Gibson and Terry Rogers also gave WPU a significant spark off the bench. Gibson registered nine points, a career high and team best four steals, two rebounds and a pair of assists. Rogers scored eight and dished out six of the team's 19 total assists.
Despite reaching the championship game the last two years, the Pacers have fallen short on both occasions against Guilford College. WPU hopes to dethrone the Quakers, who took down the University of Maine-Farmington, 69-41, in their opening round game.
"We still have a lot to work on, but first game of the season we're pleased overall," Shields added. "Now we come back tomorrow to play a bigtime opponent which will be a good test for us this early in the season.
Guilford will provide video coverage and live stats for the contest, but be sure to turn their volume down and tune into Pacer's Basketball Network. Broadcast veteran Patrick Johnson, back for his 9th year as the 'Voice of the Pacers', will have the call. He will be joined by WPU Sports Information Director Jeff Gonza with coverage starting at 5:45 p.m. or 15 minutes before tip-off.
Sun., Nov. 16 @ 6:00 PM vs. Guilford: AUDIO / VIDEO / LIVE STATS
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