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West Virginia State University Athletics

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MBB2324 Cox
Photo: Todd Griffith
78
Davis & Elkins D&E 9-6,5-3 MEC
85
Winner West Virginia St. WVSt 9-5,5-3 MEC
Davis & Elkins D&E
9-6,5-3 MEC
78
Final
85
West Virginia St. WVSt
9-5,5-3 MEC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Davis & Elkins D&E 24 54 78
West Virginia St. WVSt 34 51 85

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

Yellow Jackets extend win streak to three games against Senators

INSTITUTE, W.Va. – West Virginia State men's basketball (9-5, 5-3 MEC) overtook Davis & Elkins (9-6, 5-3 MEC) in the Mountain East Conference standings with an 85-78 win at the Walker Convocation Center on Wednesday night. The Yellow Jackets extended their win streak to three games with the victory while moving up to fourth place in the league.

Junior Arthur Cox led WVSU in scoring with 22 points. He also grabbed six rebounds and swiped three steals. Fifth-year forward Anthony Pittman posted 15 points to go along with six boards and two steals in spite of having to come off briefly for an injury. Meanwhile, Antonio Carter and Kalil Camara both scored in double-digits with 11 and 10 points respectively.

The opening 10 minutes of the first half was riddled with turnovers. In fact, a total of 18 turnovers were committed before the midway point of the half. The result was an 11-10 scoreline in favor of State with 9:57 left until halftime.

The back-and-forth battle continued down to the five-minute mark. From that point forward, the Yellow Jackets did not commit another turnover while Davis & Elkins turned the rock over four more times. WVSU capitalized on those turnovers and went on a 16-6 run in the final five minutes of the first half. Pittman and Cox combined for 10 points during the stretch. A steal by Mahzi Thames was sent upcourt to Miguel Martinez for a fastbreak layup in the closing seconds to put State up by 10 points, 34-24, at halftime.

After pulling away towards the end of the first half, the Yellow Jackets never let the Senators catch back up in the second half. The closest that D&E came to catching WVSU was cutting the deficit to four points, 53-49, with 11:34 remaining in the second stanza. State responded with a 15-5 run over the next four-and-a-half minutes to take the largest lead of the contest. The Yellow Jackets found themselves up by 14 points, 68-54, on the other side of the seven-minute mark. Cox, Carter and Camara each contributed five points during the game-defining surge.

In what remained of the contest, State was able to do enough to keep Davis & Elkins at a distance of at least six points. Pittman and Cox were able to sink free throws in the last two minutes to add to their points tallies.

WVSU did not miss many shots. The Yellow Jackets shot 49 percent from the floor, 39 percent from three-point range, and 83 percent from the free throw line.

State will head to Buckhannon next to take on West Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday, Jan. 20th. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.   
 
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