WINCHESTER, Va. -  Shenandoah University advanced to the USA South Conference men's basketball Tournament semi-finals for the second straight year with a 60-56 quarterfinal round victory over Methodist University Tuesday night.

The Hornets (11-15), who now have made six semi-final round appearances in Robert Trent Harris, Jr.'s 10 seasons as coach, will face third-seeded Christopher Newport on Friday night at 8 p.m. on the Captains home court in the final semi-final round game.

The win over Methodist (3-23) also gives SU the rubber match in the season series between the two schools. On Friday, Shenandoah will be seeking its third straight win over CNU.

In a stark contrast to the previous game in Winchester between the schools (a 113-98 SU win on January 24), the two teams struggled Tuesday night.

The first half was especially sloppy as there were a combined 21 turnovers and MU missed 14 of its first 15 shots from the field.

Despite nearly doubling the Monarchs shooting percentage in the opening 20 minutes (42 to 26 percent), SU found itself tied heading into the halftime lockerroom as the Monarchs scored seven of the final nine points of the period.

Shenandoah was able to open its largest lead, seven points, by the 11:04 mark only to see Methodist shoot itself back into the contest with a 10-3 run over the next 3:19.

Fortunately for the Shingleton Gymnasium crowd, senior Chris Schrader canned a 10-foot baseline jumper at the 4:52 mark and the Hornets never trailed again.

Clinging to a one-point, 56-55, lead in the final 90 seconds, Schrader hit four consecutive free throws and the Monarchs turned the ball over three times to help the hosts ice the contest.

Schrader then closed out the game by hitting one of two from the line with four seconds remaining.

Schrader led the victors with 14 points and 10 rebounds with Kenny Robertson adding 11 points and six boards.

Tanner Carnes had a game-high 16 points for Methodist and Mark Jernigan 14 with 11 rebounds.

Notes: SU juniors Mitch Dudley and Kevin Kline, who each missed the past three games with injury, returned to action Tuesday night. Dudley had two points and six rebounds in 25 minutes and Kline two points in nine.

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