Ferrum, Va. -- University of Lynchburg's men's basketball team took the No. 2 seeded Ferrum College Panthers to overtime on Tuesday night in an ODAC tournament semifinal matchup that saw the Hornets come out on top with a 66-62 win.

Lynchburg will play host to the 2021 Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship game against No. 5 seeded Randolph-Macon on Thursday, March 11 at 7 p.m.

Hornets senior T.C. Thacker led the Lynchburg offense with 23 points on the night and his 26 boards broke the ODAC record of 25, previously set in the 1978-79 season by E.D. Schechterly. Tuesday's was Thacker's sixth double-double of the season.

The semifinal matchup started off slowly as neither the Hornets (6-3) nor the Panthers (7-6) could get a shot to fall in the opening four and a half minutes of action. Finally, at the 15:37 mark Tharon Suggs hit a jumper to put Lynchburg in front 2-0 and by the 7:26 mark, the lead grew to 17-7  later in the first after a Landon Sutton jumper. The Panthers cut the lead to just one with 54 seconds left in the half after a Nick Helton 3-pointer, but Isräel Lockamy responded with a 3-ball of his own to put Lynchburg back up by four to end the half.

Coming out of the half, Lockamy hit another one from downtown to put the Hornets up 28-21. Lynchburg continued to lead through the middle of the second half until the 12:39 mark when the Panthers' Jamar Butler made a free throw and tied the game at 36-36. Ferrum quickly took a six point lead after that on two made three's from Kajuan Madden-McAfee, to go up 42-36 with 10:49 left to play. Later in the half, the Hornets stormed back and tied the game at 57-57 after two Thacker layups to send the game to overtime.

Thacker's hot hand continued in OT as the senior made a third straight lay up to give the Hornets back the lead at 59-57 with 4:24 left. Lynchburg's defense took control in OT as Ferrum never gained another lead. Freshman Trey Pittman hit a jumper; Lockamy found the glass for a layup; and Thacker knocked down two free throws to send the Hornets home victorious

Suggs recorded his second straight double-double as the Raleigh, N.C. native had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Lockamy rounded out the offense with 12 points of his own.

After falling short in the semifinals last season, the Hornets found their way back to the ODAC championship for the eighth time in school history and the first time since the Hornets won the tournament in 2016.

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--LYN--