Shepherd gores Cards as Moore, Osborne lead
SHEPHERDSTOWN— Shepherd moved to sixth place in the WVIAC with a rousing 97-88 win over Wheeling Jesuit last Thursday at the Butcher Center. Chad Moore had 28 points and 10 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the 22-game season.
Brantley Osborne helped lift Shepherd to a 51-point first half by making 5-of-8 three-point attempts for 17 of his 23 points as the Rams took a nine-point lead at intermission.
The Rams improved to 12-10 overall and 10-8 in the conference as they moved forward in the standings.
Shepherd went 19-for-34 (55.9 percent) from the field in the first half and needed that accuracy because the fourth-place Cardinals (15-7 overall and 11-5 in the league) were nearly as hot, going 16-for-30 (53.3 percent) from the field.
Moore made 11 of his15 field goal attempts. Osborne was 8-for-15 overall.
Shepherd outrebounded the Cardinals, 36-30, as Sidney McCray helped out with eight rebounds. The Rams totaled 22 assists (Marcus Pilgrim had six and reserve point guard Aeron Spencer had four). Wheeling Jesuit had only 15 assists with Ben Seifert totaling eight.
Shepherd’s only two substitutes played well with Spencer scoring six points, getting a pair of steals, and adding three rebounds in his 19 minutes. Malik Dauda played 26 minutes and totaled 12 points, had four rebounds, and three assists.
Wheeling Jesuit committed 20 turnovers and Shepherd had 15. The Cards committed 19 fouls and Shepherd was tagged with but 14 fouls.
A 31-22 Shepherd lead with 8:39 left in the first half became a 42-33 lead with only 3:19 remaining before intermission.
Shepherd’s scant 58-55 advantage with 13:37 showing was erased and the Cardinals actually took a 66-64 lead with 10:32 to play.
The game was knotted at 74-74 with 6:23 left, but in the next three minutes Shepherd broke away to a 85-77 lead at the 3:10 mark. Shepherd rode that three-minute spurt to the end to post its nine-point win.
