INSTITUTE, W.VA. – West Virginia State Men's Basketball extended their win streak to seven games Wednesday in a come-from-behind thrilling overtime victory in Walker Convocation Center, taking down league foes Concord 101-94.
State improves to 22-6 on the season and 17-4 in Mountain East Conference action, while Concord drops to 13-14 overall and 10-11.
Graduate student Glen Abram led the WVSU scoring, logging a new season-high 36 points and added seven rebounds. Sophomore Anthony Pittman recorded his eighth double-double of the year with 25 points and 15 boards. Classmate Noah Jordan added 19 points and graduate student Jeremiah Moore posted 11.
A 6-0 scoring drive for the Yellow Jackets lasting a mere minute doubled State's lead to 8-4, featuring four points from Jordan.
After ties at both the 15-15 and 17-17 marks, a three-pointer from Pittman put State in the lead before three consecutive layups from the Mountain Lions handed control back to Concord at 23-20.
The period went back-and-forth as Abram hauled in four straight points on a three and a free throw to regain control at 28-26 and then again at 31-29 on a trey from senior Bradlee Lewis.
Concord broke out into a 9-0 run to build a 41-35 lead with a little under five minutes remaining in the half. Despite a pair of three pointers from Pittman and freshman Dwaine Jones to bring the Yellow Jackets to trail by just three points at 47-44, the Mountain Lions launched a three with seven seconds remaining to enter halftime leading 50-44.
A pair of back-to-back treys from Concord opened the second half and put the Mountain Lions with a double-digit lead at 56-44, as State began to chip away.
A layup from Pittman with 12:53 on the clock brought the Yellow Jackets to within seven at 69-62, but Concord continued to control the contest.
A trey from Jordan followed immediately by a layup narrowed State's deficit to just four points at 75-71 with just under 10 minutes remaining in regulation. The Yellow Jackets followed up with a 9-2 run, featuring seven straight points from Abram, to bring State to within one point at 84-83 with 4:47 on the clock.
Pittman made good at the charity stripe to tie the contest and put WVSU in the lead, if only briefly as Concord hit a three. Abram replied with a trey himself to put State back on top 88-87 with 2:50 left in regulation.
With just 64 seconds left, Abram tied the contest and put State back in the lead at 90-89, but the Mountain Lions forced overtime at 90-90.
The back-and-forth continued for much of the extra period, reaching ties at both the 93 and 94 marks before Abram cranked out another pair of free throws and Jordan delivered a layup to put State up 97-94 with 1:48 on the clock.
State ended the contest with cushion, sending Abram and Jones to the line to secure the 101-94 comeback.
Jones finished with seven points and dished out six assists.
UP NEXT
State will close out their 2022 regular season Saturday, welcoming cross-county rivals Charleston for a 4 p.m. tip at Walker Convocation Center. The Yellow Jackets bested the Golden Eagles 86-75 in late January.
