FAIRMONT, W.Va. — West Virginia State ran into one of the Mountain East Conference's hottest teams Tuesday evening, falling 96–74 to No. 10 Fairmont State inside Joe Retton Arena. The Yellow Jackets hung within striking distance early but couldn't slow the Falcons' balanced scoring attack, as Fairmont State placed five players in double figures and shot 47 percent from the field to remain unbeaten at home.

West Virginia State finished the night shooting 24-of-60 from the floor, 8-of-25 from three, and 18-of-24 at the line while being outrebounded 44–35. The Jackets generated 30 bench points and saw three players reach double figures.

Trey Harris and Camren Wilkes each scored 12 points to lead WVSU. Harris added five rebounds and a block, while Wilkes contributed six boards and two three-pointers. Hassan Belkhaddar posted 9 points and a team-high 9 rebounds, and Ishmael Smith matched him with 9 points in 30 minutes. Andrew Shull and Tyree Davis chipped in eight points apiece, while Aymeric Toussaint added six points, four rebounds and a team-best three blocks.

Fairmont State countered with a deep and efficient offensive performance, shooting 35-of-75 overall, 11-of-34 from three, and 15-of-20 at the stripe. Drey Carter paced the Falcons with 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting, adding nine rebounds and five assists. David Jolinder (17 points, 9 rebounds), Zycheus Dobbs (16 points), Miguel Martinez (12 points) and CJ Meredith (9 points) rounded out Fairmont's scoring core, while Tyheil Peterson delivered a disruptive defensive night with seven assists and five steals.

West Virginia State opened strong behind Hassan Belkhaddar, who scored the game's first three points at the line and added an early assist to Aymeric Toussaint for a 5–0 lead. Fairmont State quickly countered, using a series of defensive stops and transition baskets to flip momentum. A Peterson steal led to a Drey Carter runout, and a fast-break three from David Jolinder tied the game at 5–5.

After Andrew Shull answered with a three, the Falcons surged in front with a 17–0 run fueled by pressure defense and paint scoring. Carter, Peterson, and Dobbs repeatedly attacked the rim during the stretch, combining for four fast-break baskets as Fairmont turned State turnovers into immediate points. A Browne three pushed the margin to 22–8, and Jolinder followed with a dunk off a baseline inbound to make it 19–8 earlier in the run.

The Jackets steadied briefly behind free throws from Jaylen Subject and Toussaint, who added a block on the defensive end before Ishmael Smith finished at the rim to snap another Fairmont burst. But FSU continued to overload the lane, extending the lead to 30–20 behind Carter's inside scoring and another Dobbs runout.

State again trimmed the margin with baskets from Camren Wilkes and Tyree Davis, then used a quick three from Trey Harris to cut the deficit to 35–25 with just over six minutes left. Fairmont responded immediately with back-to-back threes from CJ Meredith and Carter, pushing the lead back to 13.

WVSU made one final push before the break. Harris powered in a tip-in and a dunk, Toussaint converted a put-back, and Belkhaddar scored on a fast-break layup and added a free throw to bring the Jackets within 41–36 with 2:47 remaining. But the Falcons closed the half with the final nine points, including a Dobbs layup, a steal-and-score sequence from Martinez and Dobbs, a Carter three, and a put-back just before the buzzer to take a 50–41 lead into halftime.

Fairmont State wasted no time extending its halftime lead, converting two David Jolinder free throws and a transition three from Tyheil Peterson to push the margin to 55–41 less than a minute into the period. Hassan Belkhaddar briefly answered with a wing three, but the Falcons continued to dictate tempo, with Drey Carter scoring in the paint to make it 57–44 and force an early WVSU timeout.

Andrew Shull hit a jumper out of the break, but Miguel Martinez responded with a three, and State struggled to string together stops. A Toussaint block slowed one Fairmont drive, but the Jackets immediately gave the ball back on consecutive turnovers—part of a stretch where WVSU committed seven giveaways in the first four minutes of the half. The Falcons capitalized, converting on the break and on the glass, including second-chance points from Jolinder and Carter to extend the lead to 61–46.

Fairmont's defensive pressure broke open the game shortly after. Peterson jumped a passing lane for a steal and assisted on a fast-break layup to stretch the margin to 63–46. Following a technical foul sequence and two empty WVSU free throws, the Falcons hit again in transition as Carter muscled in another layup for a 65–46 advantage. By the 15-minute mark, Fairmont had opened a 20–point cushion behind a 19–5 run built on turnovers, offensive rebounds, and fast-break chances.

The Jackets found brief rhythm from the line, with Ishmael Smith converting one, and he added a driving layup moments later. But Fairmont immediately countered with another Peterson layup and back-to-back free throws from Zycheus Dobbs to make it 69–49. CJ Meredith then buried a three from the left wing to push the Falcons in front 72–49 with 14 minutes remaining.

WVSU hung around with scattered makes—Wilkes hit a three, Davis and Shull finished inside, and Jaylen Subject knocked down a mid-range jumper—but the Falcons always had an answer. Martinez caught fire midway through the half, splashing three consecutive threes, including two in transition, to stretch the margin to 82–59 at the nine-minute media break. The surge capped an electric 23–10 stretch for Fairmont, which at that point had already generated nine second-chance points and nine fast-break points in the half.

The Jackets continued to battle as Davis scored four straight and Wilkes connected from mid-range, but Fairmont's depth took over late. Carter and Peterson repeatedly got downhill, Dobbs added a jumper off a broken play, and Martinez hammered home a fast-break dunk for a 76–56 lead. The Falcons' starters subbed out in waves inside the final three minutes, and WVSU picked up a few late buckets—Trey Harris slammed home a dunk with 2:14 left and Bryson Smith drained a corner three—but Fairmont's control never wavered.

A Brayden Thomason layup in the final 90 seconds pushed the Falcons to their final total, and State's final look, a deep three in the closing seconds, came up short as Fairmont State closed out a 96–74 win.

State returns home for a post-thanksgiving matchup with Bluefield State on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 2:00 p.m.