Southern Va. SVU 6-19,3-10 USA South

William Peace WPU 12-12,7-6 USA South

Southern Va. SVU

6-19,3-10 USA South

Final

Feb. 10, 2024

William Peace WPU

12-12,7-6 USA South

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Southern Va. SVU	42	40	82
William Peace WPU	38	49	87

Summary
Box Score

Alan Woodard

The 2023-24 Six Seniors, Their Families And Head Coach Claude Shields

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 2/10/2024 10:14:00 PM | WPU Athletic Communications

Pacers Rally Past Southern Virginia On Senior Day

RALEIGH, N.C. – Timothy Pettiford scored 21 points to lead six players in double figures as William Peace rallied past Southern Virginia 87-82 in a USA South men's basketball contest at the Hermann Athletic Center on Saturday.

The Senior Day victory was the fourth in five games for the Pacers, who improved to 7-6 in the USA South and 12-12 overall. The Pacers, assured of a spot in the USA South Tournament starting Feb. 20, have never lost a Senior Day game since the men's basketball program started at William Peace in 2012.

"I am so proud of our guys for finding a way to win on Senior Day," Pacers Head Coach Claude Shields said. "Emotions are always high - but each one of our six seniors made big time contributions!! It's a special thing to send them out the right way."

Southern Virginia (3-10 USA South, 6-18 overall) tried its best to break the streak. The Knights led 42-38 at halftime and once led by 10 in the second half.

But the Pacers caught fire behind the three-point line. They made 8 of 14 threes (57.1) in the final stanza to snatch control from the Knights. Beau Bryant canned three treys and Tyler Parton added two more to turn a 62-52 deficit into an 80-74 lead. Shawn Jones capped the 28-12 run with a layup on Borders' assist with under four minutes left.

The Knights cut the margin to three, but Malachi Borders responded with a three of his own to stretch the lead back to six.

Pettiford finished off the Knights in the final minute. He scored five points, including a driving bank shot with 6.9 seconds left, to put away the Knights. His last basket accounted for the final score.

Borders and Jones each scored 13 points while Bryant contributed 12 points. Parton and Ryan Lominack each registered 10 points for the Pacers, who shot 57.1 percent in the second half. Overall, the Pacers shot a sizzling 48.5 percent from three-point land (16 of 33).

The win was a great sendoff for the six seniors – Pettiford, Borders, Parton, Tim Aydlett, Donolique Tyrell and Bryant. They were all members of the 2022-23 squad that won a program-record 18 games. Bryant is the school's career scorer and rebounder and Pettiford recently eclipsed the 1,000-point scoring mark.

The atmosphere was festive before tip-off as each senior was honored in front of a capacity crowd. Then in a ceremonial gesture, all six seniors were on the court as starters. Bryant stepped off the court before the jump ball.

The noise ramped up even louder when Aydett buried a three-pointer for the game's first points barely seconds into the contest. The Knights were not willing guests, however. They led all but the first three minutes of the first half.

The Knights attempted to blow the game open in the second half but the six seniors wouldn't let that happen. During one timeout, Borders was fired up as he encouraged his teammates to finish the game strong.

They responded. As a result, the Pacers made Senior Day an enjoyable one.

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