William Peace came into the contest 6-1 overall and 5-0 against the ODAC but Hampden-Sydney Basketball came out on top 86-74 Wednesday evening.

THE BASICS

• Final Score: Hampden-Sydney 86, William Peace 74
• Records: H-SC 3-4, William Peace 6-2
• Location: Hampden-Sydney, VA – Fleet Gymnasium

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The game was tight throughout much of the first half, and H-SC led 23-22 with 9:15 to play in the opening stanza
• William Peace proceeded to go on a 13-0 run behind a barrage of three pointers, going up 35-23 at the 5:15 mark
• The Tigers sharpened up their defensive rotations in the zone from there and relentlessly attacked the paint on offense, scoring the last 12 points of the half, all either at the foul line or in the paint, to tie the game at 35-35 heading into halftime
• H-SC picked up right where they left off in the first half, extending the run to 20-0 and going up eight, 43-35, following a Logan Samuels three-point play at 15:45
• William Peace notched 10 of the next 12 points, behind the efforts of Jay Hicks who tallied seven points in the spurt, to tie the game at 45-45 with 13:35 on the clock
• H-SC briefly regained the lead on the next possession courtesy of a Chaise Johnson layup, but the Pacers pushed the run out to 19-8 to go in front 54-51 with 11:28 to play
• The game remained within a one to two possession score with the Tigers ahead just one, 65-64, at 6:21 following a triple from WPU's Ryan Emfinger
• With H-SC in the bonus and WPU's vulnerability defending the paint, the Tigers continued to pound the rock into the post with Hunter Kuehn, Nick Chase, and Josh Katowitz along with dribble penetration from Samuels.
• H-SC went on to score the next eight points to go in front 73-64 at the 4:15 mark
• Willie Herring briefly ended the bleeding for William Peace on a three pointer, but the Tigers would lead by 10 with 2:06 to play.
• A Kori Anderson layup at 1:23 trimmed the deficit to eight, 78-70, but from there it was a parade to the free throw line for H-SC as scored eight points at the line in the last 67 seconds of the game 

TIGER TOP PERFORMERS

• Samuels scored a career-high 21 points as he went 7-9 from the floor and 6-10 from the foul line to go with five rebounds
• Chase poured in 20 points, seven boards, a game-high five assists, three steals, and a block while also shooting 11-13 from the charity stripe
• Jake Duncan narrowly missed on a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds as he drained all six of his foul shots
• Katowitz added 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and a block
• Johnson scored seven points with two steals and a block
• Kuehn contributed six points, two blocks, and two rebounds 

FOR THE FOES

• Hicks led the pacers with 13 points
• Camden Ferguson chipped in with 10 points

STATS OF THE GAME

• Hampden-Sydney shot 54.9% for the game while limiting William Peace to a 38.7% performance
• The Pacers made 11-of-32 three pointers compared to a 4-13 performance for the Tigers
• H-SC had a big advantage on the foul line, making 26-of-33 while WPU was 15-21
• Hampden-Sydney outrebounded William Peace 34-29 and outscored them 42-22 in the paint

NEXT GAME

• Hampden-Sydney hosts the Luck Stone Holiday Tournament Monday-Tuesday. The Tigers battle Messiah at 5 pm on Monday while Mount Saint Vincent and Elmira play at 7 pm or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the H-SC game.