RALEIGH, NC – The William Peace University men's basketball team was back on the court after a two-week layoff, hosting Washington and Lee Saturday afternoon. The Pacers rallied early in the second half, but the Generals pulled away for a 93-70 win.

WPU (5-6) trailed 45-29 at the break and fell behind by 20 less than two minutes into the second half, until Nate Strother scored 12 straight points and Chris Thomas capped a 14-0 run, cutting the deficit to only six (49-43). Sam Johnson nailed a three to make it 53-49 with 13:51 to go, but that's as close as the Pacers would get.
 
"The first game back after an extended break is always tough. We talked about that and pushed them hard in practice, but try as you might, you just can't replicate a game," said head coach Claude Shields. "We got through that in the first half and to fight all the way back like we did is a lesson for us. With how we have the potential to shoot the ball, we're never out of a game if we just have the belief that we can get back in it."

Strother led WPU with a game-high 25 points, while Johnson added 14 more. They were the only two Pacers to make a three-pointer, as the team combined to go 7-of-32 (21.9%) from beyond the arc and 22-of-60 (36.7%) from the field. Chris Thomas added 10 points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal, while Tre McLean scored a season high 10 points to go along with a pair of rebounds and assists. Terry Rogers also chipped in with seven points, five boards, two assists and a steal.

Andy Kleinline paced the way for Washington & Lee (7-3), finishing with 22 points, five rebounds and two assists. Kleinlein went 8-of-9 (89%) from the field and 5-of-6 (83%) from deep, while the team shot 55.7% (34-of-61) from the field and 52.6% (10-of-19) from the bonusphere. The Generals also got 21 points and eight boards from Clayton Murtha, the ODAC's reigning Rookie of the Year.

"They beat us at our game which is extremely humbling and even if we played a great game we still could have lost the way they played," Shields added. "It's a compliment that teams are ready to play us, which means we've done something, but at the same time, it's frustrating that we can't get over that hump. We have to raise our effort level and our execution level, which is something we aren't doing right now, but good news is non-conference play is over and we get to reset on Wednesday."

The Pacers travel to Greensboro College for the USA South opener this Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.

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