By Tim Tassa -- Daily Staff Writer

WINCHESTER — Burdened by the return of a press that earlier spurred a 31-6 run for Greensboro, Shenandoah senior Onyie Onunaku crossed midcourt with less than 25 seconds remaining in the game, desperately needing a quick basket or three-point play.

Onunaku's target was Brandon Bryan — a freshman guard whose hot perimeter shooting helped the team trim a 13-point lead to one. The deficit crept back to four points after Greensboro's Michael McDuffie hit a 3-point play of his own.

And when Bryan's eventual 3s fell short, so did the Hornets' prospects of an NCAA tournament berth after a season that once looked promising.

"It just makes us that much hungrier for next year," Bryan said. "I don't want to be kicked out of the first round next year. I want to go far."

For much of Shenandoah's 63-59 USA South quarterfinal loss on Tuesday, when sixth-seeded Greensboro lined up in its pressure set, it translated into turnovers for the third-seeded Hornets' ball handlers.

"The press has been giving us problems all year long, as you can see. That's something we try to work on," senior Jeremiah Lawrence said after the game.

He finished: "That's something that SU probably has to get better at next year."

But before the Pride deployed their full-court pressure, Shenandoah flourished against a 2-3 zone — the Hornets built a 12-4 lead to start the game.

"We started off very, very well," Shenandoah head coach Robert Harris said.

"I thought we had good rhythm against the zone, and then we got a little cold there. We just couldn't make shots, and then yes, we started turning the ball over," he said. "We've talked about how to break the press and what we've wanted to look for. It was just a lack of execution on our part."

But following a break in play with 13:11 left in the first half, Greensboro embarked on the game's largest swing, outscoring Shenandoah 35-14 to end the half.

Pride senior Adam Nicholson, the conference's leading scorer at 21 points per game, contributed 15 first-half points, including three 3-pointers. He finished with 19 points.

"They were just hot, man. They were hitting everything," Lawrence said. "Nicholson did a great job tonight. He was hitting some crazy shots, man. It was just his night, man. He put his team on his back and they won."

And if not for the hot shooting of Bryan, who paced his team with three perimeter shots of his own, the Hornets might have found a much larger deficit at the break.

"It's funny: When you're on the road you're going to expect a run," Greensboro head coach Bryan Galuski said. "Whether you're up or you're down — one team's going to make a run."

For the Hornets, who shot just 9 of 28 in the first half, the comeback didn't occur until late in the second half, when they trailed 43-55.

The Hornets took better care of the basketball in the second half, forced turnovers of their own and cut the lead to six points on a long 3-pointer by Bryan.

"In my mind I know I can make that shot," said Bryan, who finished with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc.

"Coach doesn't always agree with it, but you can't argue when it goes in."

A layup and free throw by Onunaku, followed by two free-throws by point guard Kenny Cooke, pulled the Hornets to within one before McDuffies' eventual 3-point play.

After scoring just two points in the first half, Onunaku finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, and Lawrence, who registered his 1,000th career rebound earlier in the game, had a team-high 19 points and 11 rebounds.

"It's always disappointing. Our goal was to get to the NCAA tournament, and we came up short," Lawrence said.

"This team definitely got better than last year. We won six conference games. We love each other. That's the most important part of basketball — building relationships with your teammates and loving each other and playing together as a team."

*Contact Tim Tassa at ttassa@nvdaily.com

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