INSTITUTE, W.Va. — West Virginia State's men's basketball team opened the season this weekend in the 2022 edition of the Earl Lloyd Classic against two Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association foes. Livingstone College made their fourth consecutive appearance in the season opening event and Shaw University made their second straight appearance. Both games were decided by one point on the final possession of each game, and both ended as victories to the host institution.  

Game 1: Livingstone College Blue Bears - 86-85 win

West Virginia State fell behind early going into the first media timeout 14-9, but eventually took the lead with a shot from behind the arc by Dwaine Jones with just under 12 minutes to go. Livingstone took the lead back shortly after and led for most of the rest of the half, eventually extending the lead to six just after the under 10 media timeout. Stat came back and took the lead on a layup by Bunky Brown with 2:41 to go in the first stanza and WVSU held on going into the locker room.

The second half was just as back and forth as the first, but like the first half, Livingstone found themselves ahead and extended the lead to seven right after the under 15 timeout. State chipped away and took a seven point lead of their own halfway through the final period before again coughing it up to the Blue Bears. The final two minutes were back and forth with the Blue Bears clinging to a slim one-point lead with five seconds to go and an inbound under the WVSU basket. They had trouble getting the ball in and tried to call a timeout, but their allotment was exhausted and WVSU drained both technical foul free throws. The final fast break layup attempt was left short when the red lights came on to give State the opening night victory. 

Both teams shot well in the game with Livingstone hitting 53.8% of their shots from the field while the Jackets hit 40.3%. The storyline was free throw shooting, State hit 23-34 from the charity stripe while Livingstone managed just 11-24. Scoring was mostly even amongst the State squad, with six players in double digits. Taevon Horton and Dwaine Jones both led the team with 15 points.

Game 2: Shaw University Bears - 89-88 Win/OT

Shaw took the early lead and held it for the entirety of the first half, going up by as many as 13 with 90 seconds remaining in the half at 35-22. Head coach Bryan Poore had burned his use-it-or-lose-it timeout a little over four minutes into the game and then used an additional one just before Shaw took its largest lead. State scored the final five points of the half to go into the locker room down by only eight points. 

The run continued into the second half and eventually turned into a 12-0 run forcing Shaw to use a timeout clinging to a slim one-point lead. Shaw then railed off a 10-2 lead to re-extend the lead to nine points at the under 15 timeout. The lead eventually ballooned to 13 points halfway through at 57-44. State began chipping away again and took their first lead of the game off of a Jones jumper with 4:41 showing on the clock. The two teams traded points all the way to 72-all when Shaw him a layup with 32 seconds left. Malik Whitaker was hit with a foul with just two seconds left, sending Shaw to the line for a one-and-one opportunity, but the foul shot was left of the target and the two teams were headed for extra basketball.

Shaw pulled away late in the extra period, leading by five with 14 seconds left, but Whitaker was fouled heaving a shot from behind the arc and buried all three free throws. State fouled again sending Shaw to the line, but the Bears missed both shots and Taevon Horton launched a trey with just over one second left and swished it. The Jackets were assessed a technical foul for bench personnel coming onto the court, but the Shaw technical foul free throw to tie it was missed and the desperation heave at the end was short of the rim, giving State it's second one-point victory in as many days. 

Shaw held the advantage in the field goal shooting department, hitting 47.9% of their shots, while the Jackets hit 40.3% of theirs. Once again, the free throw shooting was the story of the game. State shot 32-44 from the line (72.7%) while Shaw hit just 10-18 (55.6%). Whitaker picked up a double-double in the game with 23 points and 15 rebounds. Horton had 21 points and Jones had 15.

Up Next

The Jackets hit the road on Saturday Nov. 19 for their Mountain East opener against the Glenville State Pioneers. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 at the Waco Center in Glenville.