The Shenandoah University men’s basketball team completed its participation in the 2016 Music City Classic Friday afternoon with a 67-52 loss to Westminster (Mo.).
After the two teams traded the lead four times and were tied on three other occasions in the initial 7:17 of the contest, Westminster (6-4) took control with a 19-9 run to complete the first half.
Shenandoah (5-6) had tied the game at 13-13 following a Kaimonne Douglas 3-pointer at 11:51, which was also the final point until Sean O’Brien put the Blue Jays on top to stay on a layup with 6:25 remaining.
The two teams combined to miss 14 field goal attempts and two free throws in that 5:26 span while also committing five turnovers.
O’Brien’s layup was the first of three consecutive for the Blue Jays second-leading scorer and gave Westminster the lead for good.
Leading 32-22 at the break, WC scored 10 of the initial 12 points of the second to push its lead out to 18 points, 42-24, with 16:00 left.
Shenandoah answered with a 5-0 run of its own, with Dalon McHugh hitting one of two from the line followed by a Jalyn Jarrett layup and a Seth Myers jumper, to cut the deficit to 13 points by the 12:48 mark.
Unfortunately, the Hornets would get no closer.
The lead would balloon to 20 points on three occasions, the last with 4:33 remaining, before SU finished the game on an 11-6 run.
McHugh paced the Hornets with 13 points with O’Brien scoring 23 points for the ‘Jays.
WC shot 39 percent to 37 percent for Shenandoah.
Westminster grabbed 50 of the game’s 86 rebounds.
The Hornets return to action on Wednesday with a 7 p.m. ODAC contest at Washington and Lee.
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