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West Virginia State University Athletics

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MBB2223 Pittman
89
West Virginia St. WVSt 8-1,5-1 MEC
91
Winner West Liberty WL 9-0,6-0 MEC
West Virginia St. WVSt
8-1,5-1 MEC
89
Final
91
West Liberty WL
9-0,6-0 MEC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
West Virginia St. WVSt 39 50 89
West Liberty WL 37 54 91

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | James Garcia, Sports Information Director

No. 16 WVSU edged by No. 4 West Liberty in nail-biter

INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The No. 16 West Virginia State University men's basketball team (8-1, 5-1 MEC) was narrowly defeated by No. 4 West Liberty (9-0, 6-0 MEC) at the ASRC by a final score of 91-89. The Yellow Jackets tied the score with 30 seconds to play but were undone by a clutch basket from the Hilltoppers on the ensuing possession. WVSU dropped to second place in the MEC standings after the defeat, but should not drop far in the national rankings after going toe-to-toe with No. 4 West Lib on the road.

Redshirt junior Anthony Pittman made his season debut and posted a team-high 20 points along with eight boards, four assists, two blocks and two steals. Sophomore Samier Kinsler registered 16 points and has now scored 16 or more points in each of his last seven games. Junior Noah Jordan picked up his first double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds despite fouling out with four minutes left in the game. Meanwhile, fellow junior Malik Whitaker's three-game, double-double streak came to an end after he picked up his fourth foul with 14 minutes remaining in the second half.   

Both teams struggled to find their rhythm in the opening five minutes. Anthony Pittman was the first Yellow Jacket to score when he knocked down a three around the 18-minute mark. Malik Whitaker and Taevon Horton then both made layups to give State a slight edge, 7-6, before the first commercial timeout.

Leading up to the second media timeout of the first half, Samier Kinsler was sent to the free throw line after being fouled behind the arc. He sank all three of his free throw attempts to give WVSU a two-point lead, 16-14. A shooting foul on Noah Jordan brought on the media timeout. He made 1-of-2 free throws following the break to increase the lead to three, 17-14, with a little over 10 minutes until halftime.

State went up by five, 23-18, a minute later when Dwaine Jones grabbed a defensive rebound and found Ibn Loyal upcourt for a layup. Over the ensuing three minutes, the Hilltoppers managed to cut the lead back to three points, 29-26, before a two-minute long scoring drought by both teams started.

West Liberty ended the scoring drought with a layup and went on to level the score at 33-apiece with 2:40 remaining in the first stanza. Down the stretch, Miguel Martinez drew two shooting fouls and made all four of his free throws to give WVSU a slight edge, 39-37, going into halftime.

The Yellow Jackets came out of halftime on fire. They went on an 11-6 run in the first three minutes to seize a seven-point lead, 50-43. Pittman and Jordan combined for nine points during the stretch. Pittman started the run by hitting a turnaround jumper while Jordan capped it with a three-point bucket.

The lead was relinquished around the 14-minute mark when the Hilltoppers used a 9-2 run to tie the score at 52-all. The game went back-and-forth after that until WLU gained the momentum with 11:26 to play in the second half. At that point, West Liberty started a 13-4 run that lasted four minutes and gave the Hilltoppers their largest lead of the contest, 74-66, with 7:23 remaining.

The largest gap of the game did not last long as State responded with seven unanswered over the next minute to get back within one point, 74-73. The Yellow Jackets continued to fight back in the six minutes left to play as they continued to trail WLU by a basket or two. Kinsler kept them in the game when he nailed a clutch three-pointer with just over one minute remaining to pull back within one point, 87-86.

West Liberty's Bryce Butler grabbed his own rebound and finished on the next possession, 89-86. Butler then fouled Whitaker on a made jumper from close range and Whitaker proceeded to finish the three-point play to tie it, 89-89, with 30 seconds to go. The Hilltoppers then took the clock down to five seconds before Butler made his shot, 91-89. A last-ditch, three-point shot was taken by WVSU that rimmed out to end it. 

The Yellow Jackets shot better from the floor, from three-point range, and from the free throw line than West Liberty, but committed more turnovers (18) than the Hilltoppers (10).

West Virginia State will return to Institute for its next game against Davis & Elkins on Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m.

 
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