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West Virginia State University Athletics

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MBB2122 Abram
Photo: Todd Griffith
65
West Virginia St. WVSt 24-8,18-4 MEC
67
Winner Cal U (PA) CUP 23-9,15-7 PSAC
West Virginia St. WVSt
24-8,18-4 MEC
65
Final
67
Cal U (PA) CUP
23-9,15-7 PSAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
West Virginia St. WVSt 34 31 65
Cal U (PA) CUP 29 38 67

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

WVSU makes it exit from the Atlantic Regional with a close defeat to Cal U, 67-65

INDIANA, Pa. – The West Virginia State University men's basketball team exited the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament in the Round of 32 with a 67-65 defeat to California University of Pennsylvania at the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex on Sunday evening.

The Yellow Jackets qualified for the tournament for the first time since 2010 and wrapped up the 2021-22 season with a 24-8 overall record. They also outlasted all other Mountain East Conference schools in the NCAA DII Atlantic Regional.

Glen Abram led all players on the court with 22 points in his swan song. Dwaine Jones was West Virginia State's second-leading scorer with 15 points.

Cal U came out and hit three shots from behind the arc without a response from WVSU. The Yellow Jackets were forced to use their first timeout around the 17:30-mark down 9-0.

The timeout proved effective with West Virginia State being able to score nine unanswered over the next three-and-a-half minutes and tie the score at 9-apiece. Dwaine Jones bookended the 9-0 run with a pair of layups while Noah Jordan knocked down a three-pointer after coming up with a steal.

The Vulcans flew back out front with a 14-2 run that lasted through the 9:20-mark. Two more three-point shots fell for them on the run that gave them a 12-point lead, 23-11.

WVSU then turned the tide with a 19-2 run that lasted all the way to the three-minute mark. Glen Abram came to life during the run and accounted for 10 points with two made shots from downtown and two made layups in the lane. State was up by five, 30-25, at the end of the momentum-shifting stretch.

Baskets were traded by the two sides in the final three minutes of the opening half so that West Virginia State still held a five-point advantage, 34-29, going into halftime.

The Yellow Jackets kept their momentum going after the break and started the second half with an 8-1 run to push the lead to 12 points, 42-30, with 16 minutes to play. They were able to maintain that lead and stretch it to 14 points, 51-37, over the ensuing three minutes. Bradlee Lewis and Abram both connected on three-point shots to widen the gap.

The ecstasy diminished quickly after the Vulcans exploded on a 16-2 run over the following six minutes to recapture the lead, 53-52. Abram halted the run for a moment with a layup, but Cal U went on to score eight straight points and seize a seven-point advantage, 61-54, with five minutes remaining.

Pittman responded with a three-point basket but a quick four points from the Vulcans then set State back by eight points, 65-57, with 3:30 showing on the scoreboard. Jordan banked a layup soon after and Abram followed it up with a trey to cut the deficit to three, 65-62, with 2:30 on the clock.

Cal U then sank a pair of free throws before Jones nailed a shot from beyond the arc to make it a two-point deficit, 67-65, with a minute-and-a-half to go. West Virginia State was able to take three shots down the final stretch but none of them landed.

Neither team shot particularly well in the contest. Cal U was only slightly better shooting from the floor at 39 percent compared to 37 percent by WVSU. The lead changed four times and the score was tied twice in this topsy-turvy affair that just so happened to go the wrong way for State.
 
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