Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

West Virginia State University Athletics

Navigation stripe
MBB2324 Martinez
Photo: Todd Griffith
82
Winner Fairmont St. FairSt 16-6,9-6 MEC
80
West Virginia St. WVSt 15-6,11-4 MEC
Winner
Fairmont St. FairSt
16-6,9-6 MEC
82
Final
80
West Virginia St. WVSt
15-6,11-4 MEC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Fairmont St. FairSt 27 55 82
West Virginia St. WVSt 33 47 80

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

West Virginia State's nine-game win streak snapped by Fairmont in nail-biter

INSTITUTE, W.Va. – West Virginia State men's basketball (15-6, 11-4 MEC) was defeated by Fairmont State (16-6, 9-6 MEC) by a final score of 82-80 on Saturday at the Walker Convocation Center. The Yellow Jackets battled until the bitter end but fell behind in the waning moments of the game to have their nine-game winning streak snapped.

WVSU dropped to third place in the MEC standings, tied with Concord now, following the defeat. West Liberty remains in second place while Charleston stays in first place.

Miguel Martinez led his team in scoring with 21 points. He made five shots from beyond the arc. Arthur Cox came close to a double-double with 17 points and eight rebounds. Meanwhile, Anthony Pittman did register a double-double with a season-high 14 boards alongside 11 points.

West Virginia State gained a slight four-point advantage, 9-5, early in the first half after scoring seven unanswered points. Nate Mims pulled up for a jumper, Arthur Cox banked a layup and Miguel Martinez drained a three-pointer to give WVSU the early edge.

Fairmont tied the score by the 15-minute mark following back-to-back jumpers. The Falcons then gained a slim lead, 17-16, at the second commercial timeout with a 6-0 run.

The Yellow Jackets regained the lead by the last media timeout of the first half with 4:11 to go. West Virginia State went up by as much as four points, 23-19, around the five-minute mark. Kalil Camara knocked down a shot from behind the arc to make it so. Fairmont's Tommy Williams responded with a three-point bucket to cut the lead to a point, 23-22, before the timeout was called.

In the four minutes that remained in the first half, WVSU outscored the Falcons by a 10-5 margin. Camara hit another trey at the beginning of the stretch. Antonio Carter made the last shot of the opening half, from behind the arc, to give his team a six-point cushion, 33-27, at halftime.

The Falcons cut the lead to two points, 43-41, by the first media timeout of the second half. They used an 8-3 run over a two-minute span to somewhat close the gap. Martinez drained another triple to keep the lead from changing.

Martinez made his fourth three-pointer of the game with 11:05 showing on the scoreboard to force Fairmont to burn a timeout. WVSU led by seven, 54-47, after Martinez's make from distance.

Fairmont evened the score at 56-apiece with a 9-2 run over the next two or so minutes. Anthony Pittman's floater kept the Falcon's from going ahead.

A trading of baskets ensued down to the last commercial timeout of the game. The Yellow Jackets went up by four points briefly on the other side of the six-minute mark. The Falcons made a jumper to close the gap to two points before the timeout was called. They then came out of the timeout and made two shots from the charity stripe to tie the score at 67-apiece.

Fairmont made another pair of free throws to go up by three, 72-69, with two minutes left to play. Mahzi Thames streaked down the court afterwards for a layup to cut the deficit to a point, 72-71. 

The Falcons made a three-pointer and a layup without a response from WVSU to go up by six, 77-71, with 52 seconds remaining. The six-point gap turned out to be too much to overcome in the seconds left on the clock.

West Virginia State will head to Salem on Wednesday, Feb. 14 for a 7:30 p.m. game next.
 
Print Friendly Version