INSTITUTE, W.VA. – West Virginia State Men's Basketball picked up their fifth-straight win Wednesday, defeating league foe Alderson Broaddus 100-84 in Walker Convocation Center.
The Yellow Jackets move to 20-6 on the season and 15-4 in Mountain East Conference play, while AB slips to 11-13 overall and 8-11 in the league. State improves to 20 wins for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign, when they finished on a 20-10 clip.
State was led by a pair of 20-point scorers in graduate student Ernest Jenkins and sophomore Anthony Pittman. Pittman fell one rebound shy of a double-double, while Jenkins shot an impressive 75% from the floor and was 6-of-8 from the arc. Fellow veteran Glen Abram tallied 17 points and classmate Jeremiah Moore tallied 16 points and also posted nine boards. Sophomore Noah Jordan registered 11 points.
The crowd was hyped early as State took an 8-0 run featuring a huge dunk from Pittman. The Yellow Jackets dominated the beginning portion of the frame, going up 13-2 at the 15:00 minute mark.
State held a double-digit lead for over four minutes of the half, going up by as many as 13 points at 23-10 at the 11:33 mark. The Yellow Jackets continued to build a commanding lead, with back-to-back treys from Abram and Jordan and a dunk from Moore lifted WVSU to a 17-point advantage at 43-26.
Moore used a tip-in to continue to build some cushion as State went up by 19, and the Yellow Jackets rode out a double-digit lead through the duration of the half, heading into the locker room with a 54-41 score.
Pittman led the way with 15 points, while Moore added 11 and added two blocks in the frame.
An 8-2 scoring run for the Battlers in the second half presented pressure as AB worked to narrow the margin, coming within six points at 64-58.
The threat worked, as the Yellow Jackets poured on 10 consecutive points from the duo of Jenkins and Moore, bringing WVSU's advantage to 75-62.
Another drive, this one with seven straight points for State, pushed the lead to 82-66 in a sequence that featured another trey from Jenkins and a dunk from senior Bradlee Lewis. It was Jenkins' third three in a four minute time span, and he went on to sink another moments later to set the score to 87-70 with just under six minutes remaining. Jenkins finished with six.
In the final four minutes of play, the Yellow Jackets went on an 11-4 drive and increased their lead to 20 points at 98-78. The run featured a dunk from Pittman and Abram and the first points of his career for freshman Raef Heatherington, a three with a minute-fifty on the clock.
The Yellow Jackets rode out the victory with a final clip of 100-84.
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets return to the road Saturday, heading to South Euclid, Ohio, to face Mountain East Conference foe Notre Dame. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m., with live stats and video available. State defeated the Falcons 83-73 in their first meeting in early January.
