ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – It took a near miracle, but No. 2 Shenandoah advanced to the USA South Conference semi-finals Thursday afternoon with an 80-72 overtime victory over No. 7 Ferrum. 

Shenandoah (15-9) made up a five-point deficit with 30 seconds remaining to tie the game at 69-69 on a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Chris Rhone (Washington, D.C./Northwestern) and then scored the first six points of overtime to sneak out the victory over Ferrum (9-17).

The Panthers nearly pulled off the first upset of the tournament by combining a solid zone defense along with a clutch shots from the field. FC shot 40.9 percent for the game and forced SU into 18 turnovers. They led 34-30 at the half and most of the second as the Hornets played sluggish the entire regulation.

Still, Ferrum couldn't quite pull it off as the Hornets got their third victory in three tries against by getting a Rhone jumper with 22 seconds left, a Chris Jenkins (Bristow, Va./Nokesville) steal and layup six seconds later and then the Rhone running three-pointer at the buzzer.

Senior Chad Brashears (Hagerstown, Md./St. Maria Goretti) then took over in the overtime, scoring his team's first nine points of the extra period on three three-pointers. Brashears hit two threes and after Kevin Aigbe dropped in a putback in the paint, Brashears sealed for SU with a trey from the top of the key that hit nothing but net.

The overtime heroics capped a comeback from 10 points down with 12:17 remaining. Shenandoah outscored the Panthers 25-15 in the final 11:44 to bring on the extra period.

Rhone led all scorers with 21 points while Brashears had 19, Kenneth Purnell (Baltimore, Md./Lake Clifton) 12 and Jenkins 11. Aigbe had 19 points and 13 rebounds for Ferrum.

A complete box score and play by play can be found at http://www.su.edu/athletics/mb/200304/022604.htm 

Shenandoah now moves to face the winner of the No. 3 Greensboro vs No. 6 Chowan game in the semi-finals on Friday. Game time is dependent on the outcome of the No. 4 Christopher Newport vs No. 5 NC Wesleyan. If Wesleyan wins, SU will play at 6:00. If CNU wins, the Shenandoah game will be at 8:00.