RALEIGH, NC –  The William Peace men's basketball team had a chance to tie things up at the end of regulation against Division II opponent Saint Augustine's Monday night, but Bryson Gibson's three point attempt narrowly missed the mark as the Pacers fell on the road, 68-65.

WPU (4-4) used a 9-0 run jumping ahead, 24-15, at the 9:08 mark in the first half. The Pacers led by as many as 14 following back-to-back three's from Jalen Vince and Chris Thomas at the 1:30 mark, and they went into the break leading, 46-36.

Saint Augustine's (5-4) came out on a tear in the second half though, and the Pacers lead vanished after a 16-0 Falcons run put them back on top, 52-46, with 15:30 left. WPU buckled down defensively only allowing 16 points the rest of the game after that, but it was their own shooting woes that prevented them from a win. 

After going 48.6% from the field on 17-35 shooting in the first, WPU went only 6-29 (20.7%) in the second and failed to hit a three-pointer after an 8-21 outing in the opening half.  It took the Pacers five minutes to score their first basket of the second half, and the only three points they scored in the final 6:42 of the game came from the charity stripe.

While they would have preferred a win, head coach Claude Shields was pleased with the team's effort and believes tonight's game will serve as a valuable learning experience as the season progresses.

"We didn't play great in the second half, and it reminded us of situations we've been in before where the other team went on a run, except this time we responded," Shields said. "When you shoot only 36% on the field on the road against a Division II team and you have a chance to tie it…I'm probably more proud of our guys tonight than I have been all year because of how they responded to the challenge."

"This was really our first close game of the year," Shields added. "It was huge for us to be in a game when free-throws really mattered and when possessions on the defensive end really mattered."

Four Pacers reached double-figure scoring led by Nate Strother's game high 17 points.  Strother also brought down a career high seven boards to go along with an assist and two steals off the bench.

In addition, freshman Jay-Len Roberts gave WPU significant minutes off the bench, posting career highs with 10 points, four rebounds, and two blocked shots in 20 minutes. Thomas scored 10 points with four rebounds, an assist, and two steals. Vince scored 10 to go along with three rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot, and a pair of steals.

The William Peace men's basketball team will have over two weeks off before their next game.  They will host their first game of the year at the Hermann Athletic Center on Tuesday, Dec. 30 at 3:00 p.m. against the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

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