INSTITUTE, W.Va. – Davis & Elkins men's basketball could not maintain its second half lead as West Virginia State stormed back for a 91-82 win over the Senators on Saturday afternoon.
Leading by as many as eight in the second half, Davis & Elkins (2-4) surrendered a 23-2 run over a four-minute stretch to put the game out of reach.
Sam Rolle IV had a double-double with 19 points and 10 assists while
Breland Walton nearly had double-double of his own with 18 points and eight boards.
Marcus Fleming fired in 18 points for the Senators to go along with six rebounds and three steals while
Kyle Leslie (13) and
Gyasi Powell (11) also reached double digits.
Glen Abraham paced the Yellow Jackets (5-1) with a game-high 26 points, also adding seven rebounds and five assists. Anthony Pittman had a double-double behind 11 points and 10 boards. Trehon Watkins chipped in 15 points and Stephon Sheard added 12 more.
After trailing 3-0 early, the Senators quickly gained the lead back as both teams traded points throughout the first half. A 7-0 spurt, capped by a three from Leslie at 13:35, expanded the D&E lead to six at 17-11. Another Leslie trey at 9:14 in the first moved the Senators to a double-digit cushion at 26-15.
The Yellow Jackets kept pace, however, working back to a three-point deficit after a shot from beyond the arc from Abraham. A foul shot from Fleming handed the Senators a 39-34 halftime lead. D&E opened the second half with five of the first seven points, pushing the lead to 44-36.
The Yellow Jackets stayed within striking distance, keeping their deficit to single digits, before moving in front at 14:48 off a jumper from Sheard. Powell answered right back with a trey, coming off a feed from Rolle IV, before WVSU tied the game on its next trip up the floor and took the lead for good eight seconds later.
The Yellow Jackets have now won five straight meetings against D&E.
Davis & Elkins returns to the floor on Wednesday, January 27 for a road matchup at Alderson Broaddus at 7:30 PM.
