Feb. 14, 2008

Rome, Ga. - The Shorter College Hawks basketball team took their 17th win of the season on Thursday night as they beat the non-conference Oakwood Ambassadors in Shorter's Winthrop-King Centre, 75-66.

In the first half, Tomas Pranciliauskas, Kedric Wilson and Fred Christopher gave the Hawks (17-7, 8-5) a 16-14 lead with 11:04 on the clock. A three-pointer from Larry Savage a minute-and-a-half later gave the Hawks a five-point lead that extended all the way to a ten-point lead at the 3:30 mark. Oakwood, however, made a charge in the final two minutes of the half as they went on a 9-0 unanswered run to lead 34-33 going into the second.

With 17:23 on the clock in the second half, the Hawks regained the lead, 41-38, on a three-pointer from Jairus Jackson, and extended it to five with two Jackson free throws. Soon after, nine unanswered points from A.J Martin and Christopher gave Shorter a 12 point lead with 14:05 left in the game, to feed the Hawks' momentum. A scoreless five minutes followed by shots from Montagious Brown and Wilson, put the game at 57-48 with a little under seven minutes on the clock. With less than three minutes left, the Oakwood Ambassadors pulled within six, but two shots from Martin gave the Hawks a big lead that they never relinquished. A final run from Shorter made the final, 75-66.

Wilson led the Hawks with 22 points followed by Christopher's 18 points.

For Oakwood, Terrell Black logged 18 points.

Shorter continues play on Saturday afternoon against Emmanuel College in the Winthrop-King Centre at 4 p.m.