The Shepherd University men’s basketball team came into the week rolling on a three-game win streak, and looked to continue to add to the school record number of wins for a season.
Unfortunately, the Rams didn’t live up to their own standards this previous week as the men’s team fell short and lost back-to-back games to close out regular season action.
The Rams hosted their final home game this past Wednesday where they experienced a disappointing defeat to West Virginia-Wesleyan 80–68. Ray Warren put up 20 points and Tanner McGraw added another 18 to lead the Bobcats to the commanding victory over Shepherd.
Shepherd’s freshman sensation Naim Muhammad scored a career-high 23 points in the game and added three steals in a losing effort. Morgan McDonald worked the boards and tried to do everything possible, posting his 12th double-double of the season while adding four assist, three steals, and three blocks.
Despite the final score, which saw the Rams lose by 12, Shepherd actually led 38–37 at halftime in a game that included 16 lead changes and 10 ties. West Virginia-Wesleyan took a 55–53 lead on a layup with 12:12 remaining in the game and never surrendered the advantage again.
In a game in which rebounds and turnovers were almost identical for both teams, the game turned into who was going to hit their shots. The Rams shot an abysmal 42.9 percent from the field opposed to the 60.9 percent clip from the Bobcats. West Virginia-Wesleyan hit three more three pointers then the Rams, which subsequently came off of six less attempts.
The Shepherd men traveled to Fairmont State on Saturday in a game which was up for grabs all the way to the last tenth of a second.
Shepherd had a chance to win or tie with two free throw attempts coming with .1 second left on the game clock. The first attempt was a crucial miss and the Rams were forced to purposely miss the second to try to get a quick tip-in to tie the game, but the attempt was no good as Shepherd fell 74–72 in their second straight loss.
The loss comes in a game in which the Rams had four players score in double-digits. Brantley Osborne had a game-high 19 points, while Kevin Jones added 17, McDonald had 16 and Austin Cunningham added another 11 points.
The Falcons were led by their three main scorers. Fairmont State’s Chase Morgan put up a team-high 18 points while Steve Browning and Brenden Cooper each added 17.
The defeat for the Rams comes in a game in which they out-shot their opponent 51.1 percent compared to the 42.9 percent shooting effort from Fairmont State. Shepherd shot well from the free throw line throughout the game, hitting 20 of their 26 attempts before the final two crucial attempts at the end of the game.
The Fairmont State victory pulled their record to equal the Rams in overall wins and record inside the Mountain East Conference to end the regular season. Shepherd now stands at 19–9 overall and 14–8 in MEC action.
Before the two losses, Shepherd ranked fifth in the Atlantic Regional Rankings, in a ranking in which six of the top 10 teams are from the Mountain East Conference. The top eight teams reach the NCAA tournament.
The Mountain East Conference tournament takes place from March 6–9 in Charleston, W.Va. The sixth seeded Rams will host the 11th seeded Concord on March 6 at 7 p.m.