LYNCHBURG, Va. - A furious Shenandoah University comeback bid fell just short in a 99-91 ODAC men's basketball loss at Lynchburg Saturday afternoon.

Lynchburg (14-9, 7-7 ODAC) used a big run sandwiching the halftime to take a 16-point lead over Shenandoah (4-19, 3-11), but had to hold on as SU clawed back in it.

Trailing by 16 points at the 17:46 mark and by 15 as late as 11 minutes to play, Shenandoah reeled off a 22-12 spurt to cut the deficit to just five, 80-75, with 4:22 remaining.

Senior Xavier Alston had 11 of his career-high 26 points during this run with classmate Eli McEathron adding another five.

After Lynchburg pushed the advantage back into double digits with five points in just 27 seconds, SU went on another run, this one 12-6, to make the score 91-87 in favor of LC with just 28 seconds to play.

Lynchburg then clinched the game at the free throw line, draining all 10 of its attempts in the final 22 seconds to seal the win.

Junior Malcolm Clark, who backed up Alston with 21 points, had a pair of layups during this final stretch.

The two teams were sizzling from the floor all night, with SU shooting 55 percent (32 of 58) and LC 54 percent (33 of 61).

Shenandoah and Lynchburg split 64 rebounds.

Austen Arnold led the victors with 28 points; Alex Graves added 23 and Daniel Rowe 16.

Antwan Pittman had 15 points and both Aaron Patterson and McEathron 10 to give SU five double-digit scorers for the first time all season.

Shenandoah continues this season ending road trip on Wednesday at No. 4 Randolph-Macon. Game time is 7 p.m.

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