Box Score By Derek Redd, Local Universities Reporter 
Charleston Gazette-Mail     

       It was one of the biggest milestones of West Virginia State men's basketball coach Bryan Poore's career, and his jacket and tie didn't live to see it.

      Those were long gone by the start of Monday night's second half between the Yellow Jackets and the University of Virginia College at Wise. Poore said the jacket often comes off because it gets so hot on the court. The tie normally doesn't. He shed that at halftime because State's early play had him hot under the collar.

      By the end of the game, Poore had cooled off. And he was the winningest coach in program history.

      The Yellow Jackets' 85-65 win Monday night against UVa-Wise gave Poore, in his 17th season at the helm, his 289th win as State's head coach, breaking his tie with Mark Cardwell for the most coaching wins in WVSU men's hoops annals."It's awesome, it really is," said Poore after his players hoisted him on their shoulders and carried him off the court. "I was just here kind of conducting it, but the players I've had through the years are the guys who got me these wins. The players play. But it is special."

      Cardwell coached both football and basketball at State, graduating from the school in 1925 as a two-time football All-American. His 1948 men's basketball team finished 30-0 and was named national champion among historically black colleges.

       The Yellow Jackets (3-1, 1-1 Mountain East) extended a two-point halftime lead into a comfortable victory by holding the Cavs (0-4, 0-2 MEC) to just 9-of-35 shooting in the second half and owning a 56-36 rebounding advantage for the game.

        Markee Mazyck and Robert Fomby led State with 26 points each, and Fomby added 12 rebounds.It was a sizable swing from State's first-half performance, which included plenty of turnovers and errant shots and led Poore to challenge the Yellow Jackets in the locker room, to play closer to their capabilities.

        "I'm proud of these guys, because they're getting to where they respond to me," Poore said. "The last couple years, when I would get intense and challenge them, they kind of went in a shell. These guys are responding to it, and that's a good sign."

        State started out strong, jumping to a 12-4 lead on Keith Harris' layup with 14:42 left in the first. The Yellow Jackets made six of their first 10 shots, but the team went cold after that. State would make just six of its final 20 shots of the half, yet was able to hold a lead for most of the first half, thanks to Mazyck and Fomby.

        The duo dominated both in the scoring column and on the boards. Mazyck finished the half with 11 points and five rebounds, while Fomby scored 10 points with six rebounds. The Yellow Jackets held a 31-16 rebounding advantage at the half. Their 13 turnovers in that period, though, didn't help matters.

        State rallied from a 24-21 deficit to regain the lead and pull ahead 36-29 on a Mazyck 3-pointer from the corner with 1:16 left. Wise, however, would score the last five points of the half, both off turnovers. Lashain Matthews drained a 3 with 39 seconds left off a Brent Bauer turnover. Then Dimitri Sousa picked Mazyck's pocket and scored on a layup with 26 seconds left, cutting State's lead to 36-34, which the Yellow Jackets took into halftime.

        Mazyck said the team took out of the halftime conversation the need to put the foot on the gas.

        "We needed to stop playing down to the level of our competition," Mazyck said. "Wise is a good team. They fight hard and play hard, but at the end of the day, if we want to be good, want to be great, better than last year, we have to separate ourselves from the guys at the bottom of the pack."

         Poore's message worked. State started the second half on an 11-2 run, led by as many as 22 in the second half and kept the Cavs cold from the floor. UVa-Wise shot 22 for 72 (30.6 percent) from the floor for the game, 5 of 27 (18.5 percent) from 3-point range. State made 29 of 63 from the floor (46 percent) for the game, but shot 53.1 percent (17 of 32) in the second half.

        Ronald Whaley scored 10 points with six rebounds for State, while Brent Bauer delivered six assists. Matt Day led UVa-Wise with 18 pounds and 13 rebounds.

        Mazyck, a fifth-year senior, said this historic win for Poore was just as special for the players as it was for their coach.

        "He does a lot for us," Mazyck said. "He's always stays in our corner, very positive, even when we're not playing good. He always sticks with us. Whenever we can get a win for that guy, it means a lot to us and means a lot to the fans out there."

         In the women's game that preceded the men's contest, West Virginia State snapped a three-game losing streak by hammering UVa-Wise, 86-60.

         Five Yellow Jackets finished in double figures in scoring, led by senior Alexus Hobbs and sophomore Aurreshae Hines with 15 points each.The Yellow Jackets (2-3, 1-1 MEC) made 32 of 57 shots (56.1 percent) from the floor. The Cavaliers (2-1, 1-1 MEC) were held to 21-of-58 shooting (36.2 percent) from the floor and 3 of 14 (21.4) percent from 3-point range.

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