This past Thursday, Shepherd went on the road in seek of a win against the Seton Hill Griffins. They lost, 68-61.
The Rams were led by senior forward Chad Moore who posted 24 points and 15 rebounds. With those fifteen rebounds, Moore surpassed the 1,000 rebound mark. He is only one of four Rams to do so. Mark Palmer (1,322), Dave Russell (1,201) and Larry Boomer (1,039) are the other three.
Junior guard Brantley Osborne had 13 points and sophomore guard Austin Cunningham scored 9 points. Osborne also led the game in steals (5) and assists (4).
Griffins’ junior forward Malachi Leonard scored 15 points and grabbed 9 rebounds to lead the charge for Seton Hill. Guards David Windsor and Oliver McGlade each had in 12 points, while junior forward Max Kenyi racked up 11 points and 7 rebounds.
Both teams hovered around the 40% mark in terms of field goal shooting. Shepherd shot 80% from the free-throw line while the Griffins were close behind at 78.6%. Even though the Rams won the rebound battle (37-32), they could never seem to get over the hump even after getting to within three points after an Austin Cunningham layup.
The Butcher Center’s friendly confines must have been what the Rams needed to win. They beat Glenville State 87-79 this past Saturday.
Chad Moore had another superstar effort posting 33 points and 7 rebounds. This was his fourth game of the season with at least 30 points. His scoring was efficient, too as he went 15-19 from the field. Brantley Osborne had another stellar effort, adding 23 points on 9-13 shooting. He was 5-7 from downtown. Junior Morgan McDonald had a career high 19 points to go with 5 boards.
The Rams’ efficient shooting for the game (60%) is what led to the victory. They also got to the charity stripe more often in the second half and made the most of their opportunities, going 14-20 as opposed to Glenville State’s 8-10.
Moore is now up to 1,020 career rebounds and needs nineteen more to tie Larry Boomer (1,039) for third place on the Shepherd all-time rebounding list. His performance after this game puts him at 1,986 career points, fourteen shy of 2,000. Osborne is 4 three-pointers short of Ben Stephens’ single season mark of 85 set in 1991-92. Osborne has 222 career three-pointers and needs ten more to tie Stephens’ mark of 232. With him only being a junior, the record will most likely be shattered.
The Rams now sit at 14-10, 11-9 in the WVIAC. They have two games left in the regular season: February 18th at West Liberty, and February 21st at home for senior night against West Virginia Wesleyan.
West Liberty is the number three team in Division II Basketball at 24-1. They average 105.8 points per game and are riding a ten game winning streak. They last beat the Rams in Shepherdstown, 114-109 on January 7th.
The Rams look to build off their most recent win and make a statement against one of the country’s best Division II teams. If they want to win, they have to step out on the three, as the Hilltoppers average eleven made threes per game. They move the ball around fluidly and make teams wonder who will beat them on any given play to the tune of 22.5 assists per game.
Shepherd cannot be careless with the ball, as West Liberty gets around 13 steals per game. The Rams need to set the pace early and control the ball to get back for their previous loss to the Hilltoppers.
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