Hampden-Sydney, VA – The William Peace men's basketball team made a game of it in the second half, but the Pacers committed more turnovers than they have all year, suffering a 75-57 loss at the hands of Hampden-Sydney College Sunday afternoon.
WPU (4-7) only trailed by four points (19-15) with 7:48 left in the first half following a basket from Chris Thomas. The Pacers coughed it up three times in the next three minutes though, sparking an 11-0 swing in favor of Hampden-Sydney that put them ahead, 28-15, at the 4:37 mark.
The Pacers responded with a run of their own, as a three-pointer from Thomas cut the deficit to six (29-23) with two minutes left, but the Tigers scored the last five points of the half for an 11 point (34-23) lead at the break.
Hampden-Sydney (9-2) picked up where they left off in the second, and their lead ballooned to as many as 21 points (50-27) with 14:30 left in regulation. WPU was able to claw their way back and make a game out of it though, starting with a layup from Shawn Shaffer, a stop at the other end, and a three-point play from Shaffer the old-fashioned way that made it 50-32. Down 17 (59-42) with less than 10 minutes to play, WPU came all the way back to within seven (59-52) after a 10-0 run, but that's as close as they would get.
"They're probably the best defensive team we've played this year and their pressure got to us, which led to easy buckets on the other end," said head coach Claude Shields. "We defended better in the half-court and went on a run to get back in it in the second half, so hopefully we can carry that over into conference play."
WPU shot it much better today than they have in recent games, going 40.8% (20-49) from the field, the first time they've reached the 40% plateau since taking down Washington & Lee on Nov. 30. They also shot the three-ball more efficiently than they have all year going 40.9% (9-22) from beyond the arc.
Turnovers plagued the Pacers all afternoon though, as they committed a season high 21 compared to only 10 for Hampden-Sydney. The Tigers picked WPU off 13 times, which led to 29 points and limited the Pacers to their fewest attempts of the year from the field and from long-distance. The Tigers shot 48.3% (28-58) from the field, 42% (8-19) from beyond the arc.
Nate Strother led WPU offensively with 17 points and a pair of rebounds off the bench. Shaffer scored 13 points, grabbed nine boards, and added a pair of assists. Thomas also reached double-figures scoring 12 points.
Hampden-Sydney also had three in double-figures led by a game high 19 points from Mike Murray. Murray also added seven assists, six steals, and three rebounds. Guilherme Guimaraes posted a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The Pacers men's basketball team will return to action Friday, Jan. 9 at 5:30 p.m., as they travel to face Piedmont College in their USA South conference opener.
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