GREENSBORO, N.C. - Shenandoah University led for the majority of the contest Friday night, but could not hold on as top seeded Methodist College advanced to the USA South Conference Tournament Championship with a 60-54 victory.

Shenandoah (15-12) led for all but 28 seconds of the contest until the Monarchs (19-7) Eugene Grant buried a three-pointer with 6:35 left.

From this point on, the two teams traded the lead five times and were tied on four other occasions before MC finally took the lead for good when Sam Porter hit one of two free throws at the 2:21 mark.

Porter missed his second free throw and Seth Thomas converted the rebound, giving MC a three point advantage. The Monarchs would maintain at least this much of a cushion for all but one second the rest of the way.

MC hit its final five free throws to ice the contest as SU missed four shots, all three-pointers, in an attempt to get back into the game.

The Hornets did an excellent job on defense; they held Porter to eight points (all on free throws) and Thomas to just five points. Unfortunately, Grant lit Shenandoah up for a game high 23.

Senior Chris Rhone led SU with 22 points while Jeremiah Lawrenceadded 11 and Onyie Onunaku 10.

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