BUENA VISTA, Va. – The Southern Virginia University men's basketball team improved to 2-1 after a hard-fought battle against Shenandoah Thursday evening.

The back and forth affair began with the Hornets jumping out to a 9-2 lead in the first two minutes of play, their largest lead of the game.

The Knights would earn their largest advantage of the first half after a three-pointer by Abe Connolly, making the score 25-17.

Shenandoah would battle back, cutting the deficit to two after Landon Russ hit a buzzer beating three.

Both teams shot over 55 percent from the field in the first stanza with the Knights clinging to a two-point edge as they went to the locker room.

The teams would cool off in the second half, both connecting on less than 40 percent of their attempts.

Southern Virginia stretched its lead to nine points, the largest of the contest, after Shaun Kenedy got a steal and fast break bucket.

The Hornets would not go away without a fight, knotting the score up at 55 after Malik Jordan hit a jumper just moments after his teammate Landon Russ, who was fouled on a three-point attempt, capitalized on a four-point play.

Neither team would have greater than a four-point advantage in the final 12 minutes of regulation.

Richard Roger's successful three pointer would give the Hornets a two-point lead with just over a minute to play but Koa Baker would even the score line after grabbing an offensive rebound and laying it in.

Shenandoah had multiple opportunities to close the game out in the final 30 seconds but were unable to do so, forcing overtime for the second straight game for Southern Virginia.

In the extra five minutes of play the teams continued to battle, trading baskets with neither side able to go on a scoring run to pull away. Malik Jordan would score back-to-back buckets in the final 10 seconds of play, again creating a deadlock between the teams.

On the ensuing inbound, Koa Baker would be fouled with just 1.2 second remaining in the overtime period. Baker stepped up to the line and calmly watched as the ball hit the net, giving his team the one-point advantage. He would miss the second attempt, but stepped over the line before the ball hit the rim, giving Shenandoah one last opportunity to set up a play from its own baseline.

Russ Landon, who made a game high four three's, got the shot off before the clock hit zeros but missed the target, giving the knights their second consecutive overtime victory, 81-80.

"It's super exciting to win back-to-back overtime games," exclaimed freshman Shaun Kenedy who scored a game high 24 points and eight assists. "It shows that we are playing connected on the court until the final whistle. I love this teams' fight and we will only continue to build and grow together."

"Two overtime wins in a row was tiring," added Abe Connolly. "Knowing we can pull out games like this gives us lots of confidence moving forward."

The Knights now travel to Danville, Virginia to take on former USA South Athletic Conference foe, Averett, on Saturday, Nov. 19 with tip-off set for 2 p.m.

For all the most up-to-date information regarding Southern Virginia University men's basketball, please visit knightathletics.com and follow @knight_hoops on Instagram.