GLENVILLE, W.VA. – In a closely-contested second half, West Virginia State emerged victoriously Wednesday over Mountain East Conference foe Glenville State, topping the Pioneers 88-79 in the Waco Center.
The Yellow Jackets move to 12-5 overall and 7-3 in conference play, while Glenville slips to 6-8 and 3-7.
Graduate student Glen Abram impressed, tallying 24 points with four steals and five rebounds. Sophomore Anthony Pittman registered 18, his fourth consecutive game in double figure scoring. Pittman added six boards.
Sophomore Noah Jordan posted his second double-double of the season with 16 points and a team-high 10 rebounds, and graduate student Ernest Jenkins rounded out the double-digit scorers with 17. Jordan went 5-7 from the floor and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the line during his performance.
State posted 38 points in the paint and converted 17 points from turnovers during the contest.
The opening stanza started with some back-and-forth, with Glenville holding a slight edge until back-to-back three pointers from Abram tied the contest at 11 with a little over 13 minutes left in the half.
The cat-and-mouse returned as the two squads traded leads with State building an eight-point cushion on an 11-2 scoring run that featured a dunk from Jordan and trey from Jenkins, who tallied four and five points in the sequence, respectively, to go up 26-18.
The duo continued to pace the Yellow Jackets offense, building a 10-point cushion after another Jenkins three and a pair of free throws from Jordan at 33-23, but the Pioneers fired off a trio of threes within a two-minute window to narrow State's lead to 38-32.
Jenkins and Jordan again went to work, using the same routine as earlier with a Jenkins trey and Jordan finding success at the line. The pair each scored another two points to close out the half and send State into the locker room with a 12-point advantage at 47-35.
A couple early baskets from Pittman and Jordan proved beneficial for the Yellow Jackets as they opened the second half. Glenville broke into a 13-2 spurt over the next three and a half minutes, trimming the State lead to just three points at 53-50.
The Pioneers continued to pressure, coming within one at 60-59 with a little over 12 minutes remaining in the frame.
Over the next four minutes, the half was much more closely contested, the Yellow Jackets clinging to their biggest lead of five points before Glenville State tied things at 68-68 with 8:53 left on the clock.
A series of six consecutive points from State, bookended by a pair of Jenkins jumpers, gave the Yellow Jackets some cushion at 74-68.
A jumper from freshman Dwaine Jones and a Jordan layup handed WVSU their biggest lead since beginning the half at 78-71, but the Pioneers threatened once more, cutting the lead to just one point at 80-79.
The final two minutes of the contest was specifically the Glen Abram show, as the fifth-year scored the only baskets of the game, putting up eight points to boost State's lead and solidify the victory, 88-79.
Jones finished with six points.
UP NEXT
State will head across the county for a big Kanawha Valley showdown, facing MEC foe Charleston Saturday. Tip is slated for 4:30 p.m., with live stats and video available. The Golden Eagles boast an 11-3 record after trumping Concord 99-71 Wednesday in Athens.
