SOUTH EUCLID, OHIO – West Virginia State Men's Basketball continued with their impressive 2021-2022 campaign Saturday, picking up their sixth-straight win in a 95-77 victory over hosts Notre Dame College in Murphy Gymnasium.
The Yellow Jackets improve to 21-6 on the season, the most wins for the program in a season since 2009-10. State moves to 16-4 in Mountain East Conference action, while the Falcons slip to 15-11 overall, 12-8 in MEC play.
Freshman Dwaine Jones led the way for WVSU, posting 20 points for a new season-high. Jones shot 53% from the floor including 3-for-5 from the arc. He added six rebounds and dished out seven assists.
The Yellow Jackets had five other double-digit scorers, paced by 18 and 12 points respectively from graduate student Jeremiah Moore and Glen Abram, 12 points from sophomore Noah Jordan, and 10 points each from graduate student Ernest Jenkins and sophomore Anthony Pittman.
Abram and Pittman each logged double-doubles, as Abram handed out 10 assists and Pittman pulled down 12 boards.
State finished the contest shooting 48% from the floor, and dominated inside, hauling in an impressive 54 points in the paint.
WVSU opened the first half with momentum, putting up eight unanswered points to begin the contest, and went on an incredible 21-2 scoring run over four and a half minutes, building an impressive 19-point lead. The sequence featured six points each from Jones and Pittman.
Despite a 7-0 run from the Falcons to spur the Notre Dame scoring draught, the Yellow Jackets remained in command with a double-digit for the duration of the half, finishing at a 53-32 clip.
NDC broke into the second half with a 7-2 run to pressure State, but the Yellow Jackets followed with their own 7-2 drive that featured four consecutive points from Moore.
The Falcons trimmed WVSU's lead to 13 points after scoring eight straight points over the next two minutes, bringing the score to 62-49 with 14:53 left on the clock.
A pair of layups from Jordan followed by another lay-in from Abram gave State some cushion at 70-55, which proved essential after an 8-2 run from Notre Dame College narrowed the score to just nine points at 72-63.
A layup from Moore, followed by a dunk from senior Bradlee Lewis and trey from Jenkins boosted the Yellow Jackets' lead to 79-63, with just under eight minutes remaining in the contest.
State added another impressive scoring run as the half dwindled, putting up 10 consecutive points bookended by dunks from Pittman and junior Jihad Shockley, which lifted WVSU to a 91-68 advantage.
The Yellow Jackets cruised to victory, finishing at a 95-77 clip.
UP NEXT
State returns to action Wednesday, welcoming Concord to the Walker Convocation Center for a 7:30 p.m. tip. Live stats and video will be available. WVSU fell to the Mountain Lions 81-79 in late November in their MEC opener.
