RALEIGH, NC – The William Peace University men's basketball team was back at the Hermann Athletic Center Tuesday night, hosting the Tigers of Hampden-Sydney College. The Pacers made it a one point game with less than a minute to go after trailing the entire way, but Hampden-Sydney held on down the stretch and won, 89-84.

"I was pleased with how we played overall. We did a lot of good things and took it to them in the second half. Hopefully we can bottle that up and we'll look back at this as a turning point for us." said head coach Claude Shields. "We just need to flip that switch and go full steam ahead, because if we play with pace like we finally did tonight, we aren't going to run into many teams more talented than those guys."

Hampden-Sydney (3-1) started the game out on an 8-0 run and went ahead by as many as 16 with just a few ticks remaining before the end of the first. Sam Johnson knocked in a three at the horn, and the Pacers went into the locker room trailing, 49-33.  

WPU (2-2) has struggled to find their stroke so far this season, but Ryan Emfinger hit a pair of triples on the other side of the break that seemed to settle them in. The Pacers shot 56% from the field (19-of-34) and 7-of-15 (46.7%) from deep in the second half. They climbed all the way back within two points (74-72) with six minutes to go and made it a one point game (83-82) on a Tyquan Nolan three-pointer with 40 seconds left.

The Pacers never managed to pull even or go ahead though. Jake Duncan made a pair of clutch threes down the stretch, and the Tigers closed the game out 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. Duncan went 8-of-9 from the field, including 6-of-7 from beyond the arc for 22 points.

Emfinger led WPU's effort with a career high 24 points to go along with five rebounds a pair of steals. Chris Thomas went for 21 points, six rebounds, three assists and a career high five steals. Tyquan Nolan finished with 16 points, three rebounds and three assists. Terry Rogers notched 12 points, five rebounds and six assists.

The WPU men's basketball team will be back in action for a pair of games this weekend at Shenandoah University's BB&T Classic, starting with Elizabethtown College Saturday at 6:00 p.m.

For the latest news and updates from William Peace University Athletics, please visit: http://gopeacepacers.com/.