ROCKY MOUNT, NC – The William Peace men's basketball team struggled defensively and produced their worst shooting performance the year Tuesday night, as they fell to NC Wesleyan in a non-conference game, 94-74.
"74 points is enough to win on most nights, but our flaws defensively caught up to us," said head coach Claude Shields. "We didn't shoot the ball well at all, but that's no excuse for giving up 44 points in the paint."
The Pacers (4-3) shot 35.8% from the field going 24-67, while NC Wesleyan went 55.9% from the field on 36-68 shooting. In addition, WPU only went 9-35 (25.7%) from beyond the arc compared to Wesleyan's 8-13 (61.5%) outing from deep.
William Peace spotted Wesleyan (5-2) a 7-0 lead and trailed by eight (17-9) at the 13:35 mark, but Chris Thomashit back-to-back threes, and then Jalen Vince added a three point play the old-fashioned way capping a 9-0 Pacer's run that put them ahead, 18-17.
Unfortunately, WPU's first lead of the game was their only lead of the game, and it didn't last long. The Pacers scored four points over the final 6:34 of the opening half, and Wesleyan closed the half out on a 15-0 run jumping out to a 21 point, 50-29, lead. William Peace didn't pose much of a threat at any point in the second half as the Bishops cruised to victory.
Three Pacers scored in double-figures led by 18 points and six rebounds from Shawn Shaffer. Thomas had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Bryson Gibsonscored 11 points to go along with four rebounds, two assists, and a pair of steals.
Kaimonne Douglas came off the bench to pace the Bishops offensively. Douglas drained five three-pointers for a game high 19 points. D.J. Weaver scored 13 off the bench. Eric Dortch-Jones scored 12 points, and Adrian Moore also cracked double-figures with 10.
The William Peace men's basketball team will have nearly two weeks before their next game. The Pacers travel to take on Division II opponent Saint Augustine's Monday, Dec. 15 at 7:00 p.m.
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