LYNCHBURG, Virignia -- The Ferrum College men's basketball team topped the Hornets of University of Lynchburg inside of Turner Gymnasium in a pivotal Old Dominion Athletic Conference match up Thursday night, 74-55.

RECORDS
Ferrum (4-3, 3-2 ODAC)
Lynchburg (3-1, 2-1 ODAC)

THE BASICS
It was all Ferrum from the jump in this one, as the Panthers never trailed. The contest opened on a 10-2 Ferrum run, and the Panthers never looked back. A Nick Helton trey with 13:54 to play in the opening stanza made it 22-6 before the two teams would trade buckets on the following possessions. A Kajuan Madden-McAfee three would push the lead to 39-19 with 4:57 to play, and the Panthers would use the remaining five minutes to end the half on a 9-5 run to enter the break with a 48-24 advantage.

Ferrum would pick right back up where they left off in the first, as they opened the closing stanza on a 13-5 run and took a commanding 61-29 lead, putting this one out of reach for the Hornets. A Bryce Hall trey with 12:00 showing on the clock pushed the lead to a game-high 33. The Hornets would then outscore Ferrum 21-7 the rest of the way, but the deficit proved to be too large for any Hornets comeback effort.

Darius Kemp led the way for the Panthers, finishing with a 16-point, 10-board double-double. Nick Helton had the hot hand from the field for Ferrum, recording 16 points on 5-7 shooting from downtown. Kalip Jones had a high scoring output as well for the Panthers, knocking down 6 of 8 shots for 15 points. Madden-McAfee's streak of double-doubles came to an end, but the Ferrum guard filled the stat sheet up with six points, five rebounds, and five assists. For the Hornets, it was Landon Sutton leading the way with four dimes and four boards to add to his nine points. Justin Elkin had a strong game as well, posting seven points and six rebounds to round out the Lynchburg offense.

KEY STATS
Ferrum: Helton 17 pts; Kemp 16 pts, 10 reb; Jones 15 pts; Madden-McAfee 6 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast
Lynchburg: Sutton 9 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast; Elkin 7 pts, 6 reb; Lockamy 5 pts, 5 reb, 4 ast

BEHIND THE WHISTLE
"Proud of the effort tonight, especially in the first half. Our guys offensively had it rolling. The second half I think we let up a bit, which was frustrating to see since we have struggled with closing out games. We have some deficiencies to work on, but always great to get a win on the road in conference." --Head Coach Tyler Sanborn

UP NEXT
Sanborn's squad will look to make it five straight as they hit the road to Winchester, Va. to take on the Hornets of Shenandoah University Saturday, February 13. The ODAC affair is slated for a 2 p.m. tip.