Jackets Get Season Opening Win - West Virginia State University Athletics

West Virginia State University Athletics

     The Yellow Jackets were ready to go when they tipped off the basketball season Friday night against Elizabeth City State on day one of the Earl Lloyd Conference Challenge in the Walker Convocation Center.

     West Virginia State bolted into the lead late in the first half and then held off a couple of Viking rally attempts in the second half to win 89-82.

      After a back-and-forth first half WVSU closed the period with a little 11-3 spurt to take control with a halftime margin of 44-31.

    The Jackets hit 8-of-20 from 3-point range in the first half, 40 percent. Sable Cooper did the most damage hitting four of his six attempts from 3-point range and WVSU forced 14 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

    The Vikings were never able to even the score in the second half. The best they could do was cutting the margin to four twice, once at the 8:24 mark and again with 7:00 to play.

    After that second run WVSU turned up the defensive pressure again, senior Pat Johnson-Agwu asserted himself with a pair of dunks and two free throws, Augustus "Gus" Stone dropped in a long 3-pointer, and James Hagins hitting a driving bucket to stretch the margin to back to 13 points at 77-64.

     Elizabeth City State won the battle of the boards 40-32 but the Yellow Jackets forced a total of 22 turnovers.

     Junior newcomer Stone led WVSU with 21 points and added four assists with Johnson-Agwu finishing with 18 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Cooper and Glen Abrameach wound up with 12 points.

     The Yellow Jackets are back in action at 4 p.m. Saturday against Livingstone.

Print Friendly Version