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Men’s Basketball

WINCHESTER , Va. – The men’s basketball team got itself back on the winning track Monday evening with an 81-72 victory over conference newcomer Chowan College .

Shenandoah (7-8, 3-2) bolted out to an early 27-9 lead before cruising to the easy win over the Braves (4-12, 0-5).  The Hornets led the contest throughout, and held a double digit for virtually the entire second half. After shooting an anemic 29 percent in Saturday’s double overtime loss to NC Wesleyan, Coach Rob Harris’ was 20 for 33 in the first half (60.6 percent) and made 34 of 63 shots (54.0 percent) against Chowan.

Junior Michael Atkins (Winchester, Va./Sherando) keyed this hot shooting performance by making 11 of his 14 attempts on his way to a career high 24 points. Senior Ronald Merriwether (Frankfurt, Germany/Giessen American), who was named Dixie Conference Player of the Week last week, added 16, Tyson Thompson (Keysville, Va./Randolph-Henry) 12, Halston Camp (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) 11 and Jacob Bates (Berryville, Va./Clarke County) 10.

Atkins just missed another double-double; he pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.

The victory also snapped a three-game losing streak to the Braves. Shenandoah had not beaten CC since a 93-86 win on January 18, 1995 .

A complete box score and play by play can be found at http://www.su.edu/athletics/mb/200102/012102.htm

The Hornets will be in action again this weekend with a pair of Dixie Conference contests. SU will be at Methodist College on Saturday and Greensboro College on Sunday.

Women’s Basketball

WINCHESTER , Va. - The Shenandoah University women's basketball team struggles continued Monday night; the women lost their eighth straight contest with a 68-60 loss to Chowan College .

SU (2-11, 0-5) found itself down 20 midway through the second half to the Braves (7-7, 2-3) before battling back and nearly pulling off the upset.

With the score 60-40 in favor of Chowan with 5:05 to play, senior Wendy Legge (Stephens City, Va./Sherando) started a 16-0 SU run by canning a pair of three-pointers and then hitting three free throws when she was fouled on another three-point attempt. After a Jenny Driver ( Staunton , Va. /Fort Defiance ) converted a layup to put the Hornets down 62-58 with 1:45 to play, the upset seemed possible.

Unfortunately for the Shingleton Gymnasium crowd, the women went cold in the waning moments. Coach Kathy Orsini’s women missed all four field goal attempts, committed five fouls and turned the ball over two more times as Chowan sealed the win with a 6-2 run.

Legge led all scorers with 21 points while Driver added a career high 13.

A complete box score and play by play can be found at http://www.su.edu/athletics/wb/200102/012102.htm

The women have three more games this week, all on the road. SU will be at Villa Julie on Thursday and then Methodist and Greensboro on Saturday and Greensboro , respectively.