The Rams (13-13 9-11 MEC) traveled to Charleston University Saturday, Feb. 23, to take on the Golden Eagles (18-8 13-7 MEC) in a Mountain East matchup.
Junior Thomas Lang went over 1,000 career points but his offensive performance wasn’t enough as Charleston won 74-69.
Charleston got out to an early lead over the Rams in the first half, led by Adam Traore who led his team in scoring with 17 points.
Shepherd would put together a run and take the lead midway through the first half. They shot 38 percent from the field and knocked down a pair of three’s before the half.
Lang led all scorers with 23 points, shooting 9-19 from the floor and 9-for-9 from the charity stripe. Only three Rams scored in the double figures as senior Winston Burgess, also collected 16 points and seven rebounds and Derrick McKnight finished with 13 points and five assists.
Both teams went back and forth taking control of the lead in the first half, but Charleston would take the lead with 21 seconds left to go when Seth O’Neal knocked down two free throws.
The Golden Eagles came out hot in the second half as they had five people score in the double figures. Charleston shot 46 percent from the field and 25 percent from behind the three point line.
Shepherd was nearly identical, shooting 47 percent from the field and 24 percent from the three point line. The Rams on average usually shoot in the mid 30 percentile from three point range, but they struggled from deep Saturday.
Charleston went up by as much as 12 points in the second half, before Shepherd would make an attempt to rally back. The Rams brought the game within one point with four minutes left to go in regulation.
Unfortunately, the Rams run would stop there as Charleston would capitalize making all of their free throws in the final minute to give them the edge over Shepherd.
Justin Cole is the Editor in Chief of the Picket, he can be reached at: jcole07@rams.shepherd.edu
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