The Shepherd University men’s basketball team quickly bounced back on the winning track with two consecutive home wins this past week.
The Rams avenged an early season loss to Notre Dame College by defeating them 90–81 in Mount East Conference action on Feb. 6. Senior guard Marcus Pilgrim led the way in the scoring department with 21, and freshman guard Naim Muhammad added another 17 points to help lead the Rams to victory.
The Shepherd men’s basketball team added its second straight victory Saturday, Feb. 8 by defeating Urbana 72–57 at the Butcher Center. Urbana came in looking for their first victory of the season, but Morgan McDonald put a double-double on the stat sheet with 18 points and 12 rebounds to send Urbana to an abysmal 0–21 on the season.
McDonald is averaging a double-double on the season as a whole, which is nothing short of superb.
The Rams improved their overall record on the season to 16–6 overall and 11–5 in Mountain East Conference play where they currently sit in second only behind Division II power West Liberty.
Every conference game becomes very critical and almost a must-win at this point in the season with the 2nd through 7th place team in the MEC only two games apart in the standings.
Shepherd has amped up their scoring in conference play and their points per game average as well as their shooting percentage has seen an increase in MEC action compared to the overall statistical averages on the year.
The Rams’ execution from the charity stripe this season has been a recipe for success, shooting a solid 74 percent from the line. When you take in consideration that statistics take the big men into account, it is definitely a big reason why the team has had a lot of success this year.
Another winning formula for the Rams has come from taking care of the ball and forcing turnovers. Shepherd is averaging 3.5 turnovers less than their opposition this season. The Rams have also been a much better offensive team in the second half and they have scored a total of 942 points compared to scoring 761 first half points over the season. This points to a well-conditioned team, something that helps win games down the stretch.
Shepherd will head to West Liberty on Feb. 13 to attempt to avenge a loss earlier in the season. On Feb. 15, the Rams return home to face Wheeling Jesuit at 4 p.m., and the Rams will honor their seniors on Senior Night, including Shepherd’s lead scoring Brantley Osbourne who averages 20 points per game.
Be sure to continue to come out and support your Shepherd men’s basketball team. The fans have done a great job all season of giving the team a home court advantage by bringing in an average of 592 spectators per game compared to the opponents’ 407 spectators per game when the team is on the road.
After the regular season is finished, the Rams will compete in the Mountain East Conference tournament. Make a point to reserve your tickets so you can support the Rams in their annual conference tournament. The conference tournament will take place at the Charleston Civic Center in Charleston, W.Va.
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