Shepherd men’s basketball (5-1) displayed a great team performance with four different people scoring over double digits Tuesday night in their matchup against West Virginia Wesleyan in Shepherdstown.
Wesleyan came out in a zone defense early in the first half, which gave the Rams some trouble early on. They doubled around the perimeter, which led to the Rams shooting lots of three pointers.
Shepherd shot 40 percent from the three-point line, and 45 percent from the floor, which is about an average percentage.
Senior Winston Burgess fought hard for rebounds in the first half, collecting seven total. Burgess also led the team in scoring with 17 points, shooting 8 of 12 from the field.
Rebounding led to the Rams’ success as they had a total of 44 rebounds and Wesleyan only had 25. Freshman guard Jon Preston had a game high of 12 rebounds, which is impressive but rare since he is a guard.
The Rams also made it hard for the Bobcats offensively, by challenging shots and not allowing second chance opportunities. Wesleyan only made 21 shots out of 53 from the floor, in other words they stunk up the place.
In the second half the Rams continued to expand their lead with help from their two guards Thomas Lang and Derrick McKnight. Lang added 14 points while McKnight had 11 points and dished out some nifty dimes. The senior had five total assists.
In the final minutes Wesleyan started full court pressing Shepherd, and at first it caught the Rams off guard, which led to them turning the ball over a few times. After a quick timeout by head coach Justin Namolik the Rams played more alertly, and caused a few turnovers of their own to seal the win.
The Rams look to continue their success on the road, when they travel to Glenville State, Saturday, Dec 1, at 4 p.m.
Justin Cole is a Sports Reporter for the Picket, he can be reached at: jcole07@rams.shepherd.edu