DANILLE, VA – The William Peace men's basketball team trailed Emory & Henry by three at the break, but they outscored the Wasps in the second half, 48-30, pulling away for an 84-69 win.

The Pacers are off to a 3-1 start this season following a pair of wins this weekend at Averett University's Cougar Classic. Saturday's win against Emory & Henry is also the programs first over an opponent from the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, one of the premier Division lll basketball conferences in the country.

"I was very proud of the way we communicated, rebounded, and attacked on offense...and for the first time all year, we executed our defensive game plan," said head coach Claude Shields.  "It's always exciting to accomplish things for the first time, and we had a few of those moments this weekend, including a huge first win against an ODAC opponent today."

After seven ties and seven lead changes, the Pacers took control midway through the second half, extending a two point, 54-52, lead to seven with 10 minutes to play behind five straight points from Chris Thomas. 

Three minutes later and still leading by seven, WPU put the game out of reach with a 6-0 spurt, as Nate Strother hit from beyond the arc and Shawn Shaffer added a three-point play the old-fashioned way making it 70-57.  The Wasps (0-4) never recovered, and the Pacers iced it at free-throw line going 13-15 (87%) in the second half. 

Thomas scored a team a high 19 points with seven rebounds, while Shaffer registered a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds. Strother scored 17 off the bench, and Vince also reached double-figures scoring 13.

The William Peace men's basketball team will make more history the next time they take the court as well.  They travel to take on High Point University this Tuesday in the programs first-ever game against a Division l opponent.

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