Salem, Va. -- University of Lynchburg's men's basketball team nearly erased a double-digit deficit in the second half, but a last-gasp 3-pointer didn't fall, and the Hornets' season came to an end Saturday night with a 70-67 defeat at the hands of No. 16-ranked Virginia Wesleyan in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament semifinals.

Chance Greene's 18 points highlighted three Hornets in double figures. T.C. Thacker added 15 points, and Reggie Davis chipped in 12. Both grabbed eight rebounds.

Corey Pelham led all scorers with 30 points for Virginia Wesleyan.

Sixth-seeded Lynchburg (15-12) started the game with a 7-2 run, but the Marlins quickly recovered and turned the first half into a back-and-forth affair that saw the Hornets enter intermission with a 37-36 advantage.

Virginia Wesleyan (22-4) began the second half with a 7-2 run of its own, but consecutive 3s by Greene reigned the game back in hand at a 45-45 tie with 16:52 remaining.

Tim Fisher scored on the Marlins' next possession, sparking a 9-0 VWU run, and the second seed held the lead for the remainder of the game.

Virginia Wesleyan expanded the lead to 12 -- its largest of the game -- by the 7:37 mark, but Lynchburg recovered and began to make things interesting down the stretch.

Lynchburg's Israël Lockamy drained a 3-pointer from the corner with 2:01 to go that cut the VWU lead to 66-60, and Greene sank a pair of free throws with 56 seconds to play to cut the lead to five.

Out of a Marlins timeout, Pelham's 3 fell off the mark, and Reggie Davis chased down the loose ball rebound to convert a fast-break layup on the other end that cut the deficit to three with 21 seconds on the clock.

Lynchburg fouled to send Pelham to the line, where he converted one of two free throws to open the lead to two possessions, but Greene hit his fourth 3 of the ballgame with 9 seconds remaining and fouled Pelham again, who knocked down a pair to make the score 70-67, VWU.

Greene drove the ball up the court and fired a desperation 3 at the buzzer, but the ball clanked off the rim, ending the Hornets' comeback attempt and their season.

Turnovers plagued Lynchburg in the second half -- the Hornets committed 11 of them in the final stanza -- and the Hornets shot just 6-for-21 from 3-point territory in the game. Greene was 4-for-9 from deep.

Greene finished his career ranked second on Lynchburg's all-time 3-pointers list with 198 and fifth all-time in assists (303). His 1,114 points put him 20th on the Hornets' career leaderboard.

The 2019-20 season was Lynchburg's ninth-straight over the .500 mark. The Hornets reached the conference semifinals for the first time since 2016.

--LYN--