RALEIGH, NC – Anyone that follows William Peace University men's basketball is well aware by now of their flair for the dramatic. The Pacers' propensity to erase seemingly insurmountable deficits is uncanny and undeniably entertaining, but Wednesday night's 70-65 loss to Ferrum illustrated more clearly than ever why it might also be their biggest liability.

After finishing second last year in the USA South regular season standings, WPU is in serious danger of missing out on this season's conference tournament at the end of the month, falling to 9-14 overall with a 4-8 mark in league play. The Pacers are still alive but no longer in control of their own destiny.

"Same song different day. We got behind by 20 and then decided we wanted to start playing with some fire, and some passion…it's really hard to do that in our league, and to come back and win games," said head coach Claude Shields. "We fought back, but we can't keep doing the same things over and over again. We have to learn to change. We expended so much energy coming back which made things difficult for us…things we go over, we just weren't able to execute down the stretch."

Both teams came out of the gates slow, as the Pacers started 3-of-11 (27%) from the field and Ferrum started 3-of-13 (23%). Ryan Emfinger put WPU ahead 12-9 with 9:41 left in the first, but the Panthers took a 17-point, 35-18, advantage into the break after closing the half out on a 26-6 run.

Marvin Wilson's three-pointer at the 17:14 mark lifted Ferrum in front by 20 (42-22) for their largest lead of the night. The Panthers were up by 18 (48-10) with 14:31 to go, until the Pacers finally decided to make their move with a 14-2 run over the next 4:26 that put them well within reach only down six (50-44) with just over 10 minutes to play.

Chris Thomas scored nine points during the stretch and was the driving force behind WPU's comeback. Thomas only registered two points in the first but finished the game with a season high 28, scoring a program record 26 points in the second half, shooting 11-of-13 (85%) from the field to go along with three steals and a block.

WPU came all the way back to tie the game at 60 with just under two minutes left on a bucket from Emfinger and again at 62 with 1:04 remaining on Dakota King's layup. Trailing 66-62, Sam Johnson hit a contested three in the corner to make it 66-65 with 11 second to go.  After sending Wilson to the stripe, where he made it 68-65, the Pacers had a chance to force overtime, but their final possession ended with a turnover.

Johnson, the conference's reigning Rookie of the Week, was the only other Pacer in double figures, scoring 10 points to go with six rebounds, a block and steal. Emfinger added eight points, eight rebounds and a pair of assists.

It was a well balanced attack for Ferrum. Wilson and Alek Ayer scored 13 points each. Rashawn Speas scored 12, while KeAndre' Robinson contributed 11 points and nine rebounds. 

The WPU men's basketball team plays two more at the Hermann Athletic Center this season, both of which will be must-wins starting with Methodist a week from today on February 17. The Pacers close the regular season next Saturday (Feb. 20) against Greensboro

Video Coverage and Live Stats will be available for both contests.

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