Men's Basketball Drops Fourth Straight

SU Falls to No. 16 Elizabethtown, Cabrini on the road.

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RADNOR, Pa. -  Shenandoah University began 2002 in much the same way they closed out 2001, by losing two consecutive contests.  The Hornets' holiday road trip made its first stop in Elizabethtown, Pa. where the 16th ranked Blue Jays handed them a 99-83 defeat before a crowd of 732 militant fans.  The very next night a beleaguered Hornet team lost 74-66 to the Cavaliers of Cabrini College in a close, well-played match.

Shenandoah (4-5) took control early in the first half by amassing an 11-4 lead by the 17:06 mark.  Not to be outdone, Elizabethtown (9-1) gathered themselves and rallied to take a 27-17 lead of their own with 10:31 remaining in the period.  The Hornets then put together a resilient comeback when freshman Alan Oglesby (Manassas, Va./Osbourn) started the team on a 10-0 run, with two of his four points on the evening, that tipped the scales in their favor once more 28-27.  That would prove to be the final time Shenandoah would have the lead in the contest as the Blue Jays took the reigns and went into the locker room with a 47-38 lead in the streak-laden half.

Unfortunately for the Hornets, Elizabethtown retained their momentum as the second half began.  The Blue Jays opened up a 64-43 lead with 14:44 remaining behind the blistering offensive output from junior Ryan Loftus who had a game high 32 points.  Sophomore Chad Brashears (Hagerstown, Md./Goretti) tried to lead SU back by scoring 10 of his 12 points late in the second half, but Shenandoah could not come any closer than a 10 point deficit at 80-70 with 6:47 left. 

Senior Jacob Bates (Berryville, Va./Clarke County) finished with a team high 20 points in the losing effort, while fellow senior Ronald Merriwether (Frankfurt, Germany/Giessen American) added 16 points and eight boards.  Junior Michael Atkins (Stephens City, Va./Sherando) and Brashears both chipped in 12. 

A complete box score and play by play can be found at http://www.su.edu/athletics/mb/200102/010202.htm

The Hornets brought their holiday road show to a close in Radnor, Pa. where they challenged the Cavaliers of Cabrini College in their last game before the opening of Dixie Conference play.  SU (4-6) brought as much intensity as they could after suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of a quality opponent and traveling across the eastern half of Pennsylvania the night before, but it just was not enough as the Cavaliers (6-5) pulled out the victory 74-64.

Shenandoah started out the evening with all cylinders firing as they jumped out to an 11-6 lead at the 15:15 mark of the first half.  Senior Ronald Merriwether (Frankfurt, Germany/Giessen American) led the charge scoring 8 of his game high 22 points in that span.  Determined not to have the prior evening's fate befall them, the Hornets managed to maintain their lead for the remainder of the half which ended with them on top 32-26, despite only shooting 33% from the field.

As the second half began it was apparent that the Cavaliers were taking a much more aggressive approach to the game than they had previously.  Their efforts were rewarded on the scoreboard as they surged ahead of the Hornets 36-34 with 17:32 still remaining.  Shenandoah spent the rest of the game facing two adversaries: the Cabrini lead and foul trouble.  The Hornets committed 22 fouls in the second half sending the Cavaliers to the charity stripe for 39 attempts, of which they successfully converted 25 proving to be more than sufficient to wrap up the eight point win.

Cabrini was led by junior Brian Wood's 16 points.

In addition to Merriwether's effort, the Hornets received 13 points from junior Tyson Thompson (Keysville, Va./Randolph Henry) in the loss.  Junior Michael Atkins (Stephens City, Va./Sherando) finished one point shy of a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.

A complete box score and play by play can be found at http://www.su.edu/athletics/mb/200102/010302.htm

The Hornets are now off until Wednesday, January 9, when they open Dixie Conference play at current No. 2 in the nation Christopher Newport University.