INSTITUTE, W. Va. -- The West Virginia State University men's basketball team faced neighboring rivals Charleston in the Kanawha River Classic on Saturday afternoon. The Yellow Jackets were competitive throughout but were ultimately defeated, 96-83.

Senior Neil Higgins was honored before the game. His teammates rushed to center court to photobomb him as part of the Senior Night ceremonies. Higgins was named in the starting five and got a three-point shot off that barely missed the mark.  

WVSU completed the regular season with a 9-6 record and finished third in the Mountain East Conference South Division. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles wrapped up their regular season with a 13-2 record and ended up first in the MEC South Division.

Four Yellow Jackets scored in double digits despite the loss. Senior guard Glen Abram scored a team-high 21 points on the night. Fellow upperclassmen Jeremiah Moore, 18 points, and Augustus Stone, 15 points, also contributed to the scoring effort. Sophomore forward Anthony Pittman rounded out the top scorers with 12 points. Meanwhile, junior forward Jihad Shockley led all players with 10 boards.

Charleston was able to get it going early in the game and jumped out to a quick 10-point lead before the under-15 timeout. Coming out of the timeout, West Virginia State was finally able to get something going thanks to a three-point bucket from Jeremiah Staten. Shots started flowing in from both sides shortly thereafter. WVSU had a hard time chipping into the Golden Eagles' lead but was able to prevent the deficit from growing. At the halfway point of the first period, Charleston held an 11-point advantage over the Yellow Jackets, 26-15.

The final 10 minutes of the half was almost a mirror image of the first 10 minutes. Shots were flying in from everywhere on the court. Both Glen Abram and Anthony Pittman led the charge after the under-10 timeout and were able to keep the Yellow Jackets in the contest with their efforts. UC went on small runs that were both answered by buckets from Pittman and Abram. West Virginia State ended the first half on a 14-5 run sparked by a Jeremiah Moore layup that slowed down Charleston's momentum and effectively closed the gap. The Yellow Jackets went into the break down by just seven points, 46-39.

Charleston came out of halftime with a bit of a hot streak. In the first couple of minutes, the Golden Eagles made two three-point shots that looked like they would open the game for them. However, the Yellow Jackets started to get on a roll. Jeremiah Moore, Augustus Stone, and Anthony Pittman all contributed buckets that would result in a WVSU comeback. The Yellow Jackets were able to get the game back within three points before the under-15 timeout, 55-52.

After the short break, Charleston went back to what gave the Golden Eagles the lead in the first place. UC went on a tear that increased the deficit to 15 points by the midway point of the half. From then on, Charleston kept the pressure up.

The Yellow Jackets fell behind by as much as 18 points around the five-minute mark but refused to go down without a fight. They went on an 11-6 run over the next three minutes before they were forced to resort to fouling. Charleston knocked down its shots from the charity stripe to come away with the win.

Next up for West Virginia State is the Mountain East Conference Tournament. The Yellow Jackets are set to play Fairmont State in the quarterfinals on Friday, March 5. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.

Click here for more information on tournament seeding.