FERRUM, Va. – No. 19 in the nation Ferrum College kept itself in a tie for first place in the USA South with a 95-70 men's basketball victory over Shenandoah Saturday afternoon.

The Panthers (20-3, 9-1 USA South) raced out to a 20-2 lead by the first media timeout and Shenandoah (3-18, 1-8) never recovered.

Ferrum's lead first reached double digits on a Marcus Mayo 3-pointer at the 15:31 mark, and thanks to 12 straight points in a two-minute span, FC held a 35-10 advantage with 8:51 remaining.

One final run, this one 15-8 in the final five minutes of the half, gave the Panthers a 57-30 lead heading into the halftime lockerroom.

The two teams played the final 20 minutes relatively even, with SU scoring 40 of the game's final 78 points.

Senior Mitch Dudley paced Shenandoah with 13 points while Brandon Bryan and Avery Green added 12 each.

Derek Mitchell had a game-high 23 for the victors.

Ferrum also won the battle of the glass 32-28.

Shenandoah is back in action tomorrow at 4 p.m. against Averett.

###