West Virginia State’s men’s basketball team captured its seventh straight win and second over a nationally ranked team by getting past West Liberty 98-92 on Wednesday in Institute.
WVSU also snapped 2023 NCAA Division II tournament runner-up West Liberty’s seven-game winning streak.
“They’re at the top of the mountain,†WVSU coach Bryan Poore said. “We battled them at their place and had a chance to win there. We’ve had a couple opportunities slip through our fingers at home. This one helps.
“West Liberty is a competitive bunch and played extremely hard. For us to battle this out was good for our guys.â€
WVSU never surrendered the lead Wednesday night.
Poore was pleased with how the Yellow Jackets jumped out early on the No. 17 Hilltoppers.
“We wanted to start strong,†Poore said. “What I told our guys in the second half was that no lead is big enough against these guys. They can score 10 points in what seems like two possessions.â€
West Liberty suffered its first loss since Dec. 18 against No. 20 Angelo State. The Hilltoppers are now 15-3 and 9-2 in Mountain East Conference play.
“I saw a team, in us, that wasn’t ready to go from the start and put us in a position where we were always trying to get back into the game,†West Liberty coach Ben Howlett said.
“We made a heck of a fight in the second half to get back on track. We couldn’t get over the hump.â€
West Liberty had cut the WVSU lead to three, 90-87, with 2 minutes left before the Hilltoppers’ John Korte got a technical foul while fouling out.
The technical sent Anthony Pittman to the free throw line. Pittman connected on both free throws, then split the following two — he had gotten fouled before the tech.
Hilltopper guard Christian Montague also received a technical foul with one second left.
WVSU outscored West Liberty 8-5 in the final two minutes.
“It changed what we needed,†Howlett said. “We could’ve gotten closer with a layup. However, we had to shoot 3s to tie it. It is frustrating because those are two fifth-year guys that have played a lot of basketball. That takes away from the fight we had in the second half.â€
WVSU’s lead started early as the Yellow Jackets jumped out to an 17-4 advantage. Arthur Cox and Pittman combined for 10 of the first 17 points.
West Liberty cut its deficit to 30-22 before WVSU finished the first half outscoring the Hilltoppers 21-19, taking a 51-41 lead into halftime.
West Liberty used a 17-2 run early in the second half to trim its deficit to three, 64-61.
Pittman quickly scored six straight points to extend the lead back to nine, 70-61, with 9:43 left.
Pittman finished the game with 29 points on 6 of 12 shooting (50%), including drilling 17 of 18 free throws.
Women
WEST VIRGINIA STATE 91, WEST LIBERTY 80: West Virginia State ranked second in the MEC going into Wednesday’s showdown against West Liberty in made 3-pointers per game, averaging 10 a game.
But there was a lid on the rim when the Yellow Jackets shot from outside the arc, shooting 5% (1 of 19) from 3, inside the Doris W. and Walter F. Johnson III Arena on Wednesday
WVSU responded by shooting 47% from inside the arc.
“That shows me that we can win in different ways,†WVSU coach Charles Marshall said. “We don’t have to shoot the ball extremely well from behind the arc to pull out a victory. That’s good to know, especially when we get later into the season.â€
The win moved the Yellow Jackets to 11-8 and 7-5 in conference play and snapped a two-game skid, with the losses coming to Concord and ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä.
“You feel good about yourself,†Marshall said. “We’ve been on a roller coaster this season, and this is a confidence-booster for sure. We have to keep putting it together and coming to work every day with the right mindset.â€
The Hilltoppers have dropped five of their last six games, including the last two.
“I saw fight [from us],†West Liberty coach Kyle Cooper said. “That’s what you have to do against that style of play. I wish the fight we played with in the second half was there consistently in the first half.â€
West Liberty led by eight early in the second quarter, 30-22, with 8:57 remaining.
However, the Hilltoppers went cold by only scoring one field goal in the next nearly seven minutes.
WVSU capitalized by grabbing the lead and going on a 15-0 run.
Cooper saw the Hilltoppers’ cold shooting combined with WVSU’s run as the deflating piece of the game.
“It was a little bit of the perfect storm,†Cooper said. “It started with the offensive rebounding. They were going and getting the majority of the rebounds and scoring, which allowed them to set up their pressure.â€
The 15-0 Yellow Jacket run came in a variety of ways, as Anysa Jordan and ZZ Russell combined for 11 of the 15 points.
West Virginia State used a 13-0 run early in the third, stretching the lead back out to 18, 63-45.
The Yellow Jackets went into the final quarter leading 65-54 after two McCutcheon free throws cut it to 11.
West Liberty got within seven points in the final quarter. However, WVSU responded every time to capture its 11th win.
West Liberty’s Karly McCutcheon finished the game with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range.
