SHEPHERDSTOWN – As the regular season begins to wind down, the Shepherd Rams are looking to snap out of a mid-season funk. They took one step forward this week, winning two of their three games.
On Monday, February 2, the Rams picked up a victory of West Virginia Wesleyan 69-66.
Before the win, Shepherd had dropped five of their previous six games.
Shepherd held a 35-23 lead going into the half. The Bobcats roared back, even holding an eight point lead with 4:30 remaining.
With 1:26 remaining, freshman guard Steffen Davis scored on a layup that tied the game. Shortly after, senior forward Morgan McDonald would hit a free throw that gave the Rams the lead. They would not lose the lead after that.
McDonald and junior forward Ryan McTavish led the Rams with 15 points and three rebounds each.
Senior guard Austin Cunningham had 13 points and six assists.
On Saturday, February 6, Shepherd squeaked out a win over the Urbana Blue Knights 71-70 thanks to some late game heroics from Austin Cunningham.
With seven seconds remaining and Urbana up by one point, Matt Csuhran turned the ball over. The Rams raced up the court, and Cunningham knocked down a jumper as time expired to win the game.
Cunningham ended the game with 15 points and a team-high five assists.
Ryan McTavish led the team with 21 points.
Shepherd’s lone loss of the week came on Thursday, February 5, when they fell to Notre Dame College in heart-breaking fashion 87-86.
Despite being down the majority of the second half, the Rams took the lead with less than two minutes to play. After going back and forth, freshman forward AJ Carr hit a three pointer that gave Shepherd a one point lead. After calling a timeout, Falcons forward Will Vorhees hit the game-winning shot with five seconds remaining.
Vorhees ended the game with 17 points, six rebounds and three blocks.
Steffen Davis scored 24 points to lead the Rams.
Morgan McDonald notched a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Next on the schedule is a home contest on Thursday, February 12, against number one in the conference West Liberty.