ASHLAND, Va. – The Shenandoah University men's basketball team was back on the road continuing a tough stretch of conference games with a matchup with the No. 11 ranked Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets on Wednesday afternoon.
Jaylen Williams was the leading scorer for the Hornets with 16 points, on a 5-12 performance from the floor with six rebounds.
Joshua Stephen was the other Hornet with double-digit points, scoring 12 of his own also going 5-12 from the floor including two triples.
Nic Pullum was 4-9 from the floor, with five rebounds as the Hornets third-leading scorer. Shenandoah shot 37.5% from the floor going 18-48 and went 4-17 from deep, while Randolph-Macon shot 50.7% from the field and hit 12 threes.
RMC quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead taking advantage of a few Shenandoah missed buckets, but it was
Jaylen Williams who finally got the Hornets on the board with a layup just over two minutes into the game. The Yellow Jackets then used a 9-2, taking a 14-4 lead with 14:46 remaining in the half. With the Hornets settling into their offensive set, Shenandoah used baskets from
Jaylen Williams,
Joseph Baldwin,
Evan Makle, and
Joshua Stephen as the Hornets cut the lead back to four points, 16-12 with just over 10 minutes to play in the stanza. RMC then went on another 5-0 run increasing their lead back to nine, before
Jaylen Williams hit a pair of free throws. As the half went on, the Hornet's defensive intensity picked up coming up with stops and steals, but Shenandoah found themselves in a track meet with the Yellow Jackets exchanging buckets.
Joshua Stephen hit the first three for the Hornets to make it a six-point game before
Joseph Baldwin slammed down the ball off an assist from
Jaylen Williams to make it a 29-23 game.
Joshua Stephen would hit a turnaround three, deep behind the line as the shot clock expired, making it a nine-point game with just under 90 seconds to play. The Yellow Jackets ended the half on an 8-0 run including a three from just past the logo as time was expiring. Shenandoah found themselves down 45-26 at the half.
Both teams struggled to get the offense going in the second half, but it was
Jaylen Williams who got the scoring started for the Hornets. RMC then took advantage of missed baskets and capitalized on back-to-back layups forcing the Hornets to take a timeout down 49-28 with 16:59 on the clock.
Nic Pullum hit back-to-back layups cutting the deficit back to 20, but RMC continued to take advantage of fouls and missed baskets as the Yellow Jacket lead grew to 56-32, before
Jaylen Williams split a pair of free throws. The Hornets shooting went cold, as RMC used a 9-0 run, on three threes before
Joshua Stephen scored making the score 76-43 with just under six minutes to play. Shenandoah would go scoreless for three minutes before
Landon Russ drilled a three with 3:05 left on the clock making it an 81-46 game. That three from Russ would be the Hornets final basket, as Shenandoah dropped the game 86-46 suffering their fourth conference loss.
UP NEXT
The road to Salem does not get any easier on Saturday, as the Hornets will welcome No. 1 Hampden-Sydney to Winchester for a 2 pm tip-off.
#GoSUHornets
