ELKINS, W.Va. -- The West Virginia State men's basketball team traveled to Davis & Elkins and picked up a win, 88-80, on Wednesday night. Four Yellow Jackets scored in double figures.

West Virginia State improves to 9-5 overall and in league play, while Davis & Elkins regresses to 3-10 overall and in league play.

Sophomore forward Anthony Pittman had a team high 26 points and was one rebound short of a double-double. Fifth year player Augustus Stone contributed 19 points as well. Sophomore guards Treohn Watkins and Stephen Sheard took advantage of their starts and added 16 and 12 points, respectively.

Both teams started the game struggling to score for the first four minutes of the game, 6-6. Stone was responsible for four of the six points for the Yellow Jackets. A Shockley layup before the media timeout gave WVSU the lead, 8-6.

Coming out of the timeout, a fast six points for the Senators gave them a 12-8 lead with 14 minutes remaining in the game. This gave D&E a swing of momentum and started an 11-0 run for D&E, 17-8, with one-and-a-half minutes remaining.  The five-minute scoring drought for West Virginia State ended with 10 minutes remaining when Sheard drove in the lane for a layup, 17-10. However, Davis & Elkins was still able to extend its run to 14-2 going into the second media timeout of the first half, 20-12.

Following the timeout, WVSU began its counterattack and started to chip away at the lead for the next two minutes, 24-19. At the seven-minute mark, a jumper from Watkins got the Yellow Jackets back within a single basket, 24-22. The teams went back and forth with D&E securing a slim lead, 27-26, with just under six minutes remaining in the half.

A pair of foul shots from Pittman before the five-minute mark gave the lead back to West Virginia State, 28-27. The Senators went on a quick 8-0 run to help regain a 35-28 advantage with four minutes remaining in the half. During the next two minutes, the game was a fast-paced affair. During this time, WVSU managed to cut the lead back down to three, 42-39. Neither team in the final two minutes managed to swing the momentum to their side going into halftime and the score ended up deadlocked at 44-all.

The second half began with Stone scoring a quick five points in the first minute to give WVSU a 49-44 lead. The teams went on to trading baskets for the next four minutes until a quick burst from West Virginia State gave the Yellow Jackets a six-point lead, 58-50, with 15-and-a-half minutes remaining.  From the 15-minute mark to the 13-minute mark, the Senators used the foul line to shred the lead to two, 58-56. However, seven unanswered points from WVSU extended the advantage back to nine, 65-56, with 12 minutes left in the game.

During the next two-minute stretch, D&E scored seven unanswered to cut the lead back to a single basket, 65-63. The Senators then lengthened their run to 12-2 and gained the lead for the first time in the second half with nine minutes remaining in the game, 68-67. Abram finally ended the run a minute-and-a-half later to regain the lead, 69-68. From the seven-minute mark to the four-and-a-half-minute mark, WVSU managed to outscore D&E, 5-1, to secure a five-point advantage going into the final five minutes, 74-69.

The Senators continued to try and scrape away at the lead during the next three minutes, but the Yellow Jackets continued to counterattack. WVSU managed to maintain an eight-to-six-point lead until the final two minutes, 82-77. In the final two minutes, the Yellow Jackets played stout defense and made their foul shots to secure the win.

WVSU's bench played a huge part in the victory by scoring 28 points compared to D&E's bench which only managed 10 points.

West Virginia State will return home for its final game of the regular season against rival Charleston on Saturday, Feb. 27. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.