FERRUM, Virginia -- The Ferrum College men's basketball team saw its season come to an end Tuesday night as the #2-seeded Panthers came up just short in overtime to the #3-seeded Hornets of Lynchburg in the Semis of the 2021 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, 66-62. 

THE BASICS
It was 4:23 into the game before either team saw a bucket. A Tharon Suggs jumper from the short corner opened it up for the Hornets and there would not be another basket until the 13:54 mark before T.C Thacker would make it 4-0. James Smith Jr. would answer for the Panthers, getting the scoring started for Ferrum. Lynchburg would then go on a 14-3 run spanning over six minutes in the first stanza. The Panthers would then answer right back, ending the half on a 14-7 run to bring it to 25-21. Nick Helton hit a trey with :54 left in the first half, bring it to 22-21, but Israel Lockamy answered right back with one of his own.

The first two possessions of the second half were huge, as the Panthers came up empty-handed and Lynchburg came down and knocked down a trey to take a 28-21 lead. Kajuan Madden-McAfee would then answer right back with a three of his own, but Lynchburg would get it right back with a trey of their own. The Panthers would then claim their largest lead of eight, capping off an 18-4 run with a Madden-McAfee layup with 8:08 to play. Lynchburg would not lead from that point on in regulation, but they would knot the game up with :33 to play with a Suggs layup. The Panthers had the last possession of the game, but a Madden-McAfee three would be blocked and we saw free basketball in Swartz Gym. Lynchburg would outscore the Panthers 9-5 in the extra period, earning a date with the number one team in the nation, the 5th-seeded Yellow Jackets of Randolph-Macon College, in the title game.

KEY STATS
Ferrum: Madden-McAfee 23 pts, 13 reb; Kemp 15 pts, 9 reb; Young 4 pts, 7 reb, 6 ast
Lynchburg: Thacker 23 pts, 26 reb; Suggs 12 pts, 10 reb; Lockamy 12 pts

BEHIND THE WHISTLE
"I am proud of our effort tonight. We just did not have enough offensively to get us over the top. I felt like we executed decently well but couldn't get good looks to fall for us. We gave a ton of effort defensively and battled for 45 minutes, we just came up a little bit short. We stuck together all season, with zero covid interruptions, which is a testament to our commitment to each other. I am extremely proud of this team." --Head Coach Tyler Sanborn

COMING TO AN END
The Panthers see their season come to end after making it to the Semis of the ODAC Tournament, the most successful run in the ODAC Tournament since joining the league in 2018.