RALEIGH, NC – The William Peace men's basketball team set a program record with 28 assists and shot a season high 52.5% (31-of-59) from the field, as they went on to down LaGrange this afternoon, 98-77.
WPU equaled their third highest point total in program history, and their 21-point win is the program's second largest margin of victory(33 vs. MACU on 11/26/13). The Pacers went 10-27 (37%) from long-distance, the ninth time they've recorded 10 or more threes in a game this season. They also went 26-of-38 (68.4%) from the charity stripe, which ranks as the second most free-throw attempts and third most makes from the line in program history.
The Pacers (7-9, 3-2 USAS) have already matched last season's win total in conference play and are only 6 points away from being a perfect 5-0 in the USA South. LaGrange falls to 9-7 overall with a 3-3 conference record.
Defensively, WPU held the Panthers to 28-of-65 (43.1%) shooting from the field and only 4-of-18 (22.2%) from long distance. The Pacers also turned LaGrange over 15 times, leading to 15 easy points at the opposite end.
"We didn't necessarily execute the scouting report as well as we wanted to in terms of who was a driver and who was a shooter in the first half, but we were very impressed with how we defended in the second half," said head coach Claude Shields. "Having six guys with three or more assists is pretty special, and most people will look at the 98 points, but forcing them to shoot 43% from the field and 22% from the three-point line – that's special – not to mention turning them over 15 times."
WPU trailed by five (13-8) with 11 minutes remaining in the first half, until Ryan Emfinger drained one from downtown sparking a 10-0 run, which put them ahead by five (23-18) at the 7:05 mark. With the game tied at 29 and 4:26 on the clock, the Pacers built a seven-point cushion (36-29) one minute later, and they led by seven (43-26) at the break as Nate Strother hit one of his four three-pointers in the closing seconds.
Nick Mitchell made 1-of-2 at the charity stripe to open the scoring in the second half, but six points is as close as LaGrange would get the rest of the game. A 6-0 swing in favor of the Pacers put them ahead 12 (49-37) less than two minutes into the second half, and it was all WPU from there.
Four Pacers scored in double-figures led by Chris Thomas who had 22 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Jalen Vince scored 19 points to go along with six assists, two rebounds, and two steals. Strother also scored 19 points and brought down four rebounds off the bench, while Emfinger had 11 points, three assists and a steal. With six assists and no turnovers, Michael Wolf remains atop the USA South leaders for assist to turnover ratio. Tyquan Nolan had his best game of the season with six points, three assists, and a game high 14 rebounds.
For LaGrange, Alex Bonner had 14 points and a team high seven rebounds. Braxton Ford also added 14 points and a team best five assists, while Mitchel finished with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists. Jordan Johnson also reached double-figures with 12 points, as did Justyn Olson who scored 10.
The Pacers men's basketball team will return to action tomorrow at the Hermann Athletic Center against the Hawks of Huntingdon College at 1:00 p.m. Video Coverage will be available with Patrick Johnson on the call for the Pacers Basketball Network 15 minutes prior to tip-off. You can also follow the game via Live Stats.
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