The Men’s Basketball team traveled to Weleyan, West Virginia Wednesday, Jan 23 to face the Bobcats of West Virginia Weleyan. Shepherd had a poor performance offensively, which allowed Wesleyan to prevail 75-66.
The Bobcats had four players in the double digits led by Fred Bronsted, who had 18 points. They also shot seven for seven from the free throw line compared to Shepherd’s two of four, which says that they weren’t aggressive enough in the paint.
Junior guard Thomas Lang led all scorers with 22 points, shooting 8-19 from the floor and 6-16 from three-point range, which is a unusual shot ratio for Lang, as he has been lighting opponents up from the inside and out all season.
The first half was competitive as both teams was always within five points of one another, but Wesleyan controlled the lead the majority of the half. The game had four ties and 13 lead changes.
As a team the Rams shot 43 percent from the floor and 25 percent from behind the arc, on average Shepherd usually shoots in the high 30s from three-point range.
In the first 10 minutes of the first half it looked like Shepherd was going to take control of the game, as they had the advantage until Daylin Lee knocked down two free throws making the score 53-51 Wesleyan.
The Bobcats started to run away with the game midway through the second half, as their largest lead stretched to 16 points. Wesleyan scored 20 of their points off of Shepherd’s turnovers, and 19 points coming from their bench players.
Sophomore forward Kyle Dagget, finished with a double double adding 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Shepherd went on a 9-0 run late in the game but, it wouldn’t be enough as the Bobcats took care of business at home.
The Rams look to bounce back when they return home to Shepherdstown Saturday Jan 26, to face a top tier opponent Fairmont State.
Justin Cole is the Sports Editor for the Picket, he can be reached at: jcole07@rams.shepherd.edu