WHEELING, W.Va. -- Fairmont State held off a fiesty second half rally from West Virginia State and went on to win, 95-87, on Friday night at WesBanco Arena.
After an even first five minutes of play, Fairmont State took control with a 10-0 run that stretched an eight point lead to 18 with 10:05 left in the first half. The Falcons would take that margin into the locker room at 54-36.
FSU shot a sizzling 58 percent in the first half and drained seven three-pointers. For the game, the Falcons shot a season-best 56.7 percent from the field in the win (34-of-60) and their 11-of-22 performance from three-point range was the team's second-best showing of the season.
"It was really big giving us that confidence we needed," Fairmont State sophomore Dale Bonner said of the team's fast start. "We're built for these type of moments. We trusted each other, made the one more pass each time, really played together and we made a lot of shots."
"I thought Fairmont was the aggressor at the beginning of the game and for the whole first half really," said West Virginia State coach Bryan Poore. "They shot the ball extremely well. They were the aggressor and we were on our heels the whole first half. I thought that really kind of set the tone for the game."
The Falcons stretched their lead to 23 early in the second half before West Virginia State started to mount a comeback. An 18-4 run brought the Yellow Jackets to within five with still 10:07 to play. WVSU got to within two points on two occassions, but each time Fairmont State's Cole Vonhandorf had an answer with a basket to keep Fairmont State in front. The Falcons would push the lead back to double digits before settling for the eight-point margin.
"We tried to scramble the game up a little bit in the second half and when you do that you run the risk of losing a shooter," Poore said. "It seems like Cole (Vonhandorf), whose percentage has not been great this year, always hits big shots against us. Last year at Fairmont he hit the shot to win the game. This year at our place we battled back, had it tight and he hit a three on the top that was contested. Then tonight he hit a couple of big ones. For whatever reason he comes up with big shots against the Yellow Jackets."
"They're a really good team," Fairmont State head coach Tim Koenig said. "They were working their tails off to scrap and claw back into it. They hit some tough shots, but they also got quite a bit at the rim and especially on the offensive boards. You do your best to try and play it one possession at a time, but with that three-point line nothing is over. That three-point line changes things really quick."
Bonner finished with 29 points on 10-of-18 shooting to go with six assists and five rebounds. Isaiah Sanders battled through foul trouble and finished with 22 points. Vonhandorf scored 20.
Jeremiah Moore poured in a career-high 41 points, which tied for second-most in an MEC Tournament game with Glenville State's Sedric Nady in 2015. He also had 11 rebounds. Anthony Pittman had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Glen Abram had 13.
