BUCKHANNON — The West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats let a dominating 30-minute performance melt away Saturday night but held tight at the end for a much-needed 82-79 win over the Point Park University Pioneers in Buckhannon.
Wesleyan used the full-court press very effectively, particularly in the first half. The quickened defense caused 17 total Pioneer turnovers which led to 18 Bobcat points.
Up 49-32 at the break, the Bobcats extended its dominance into the second half, pulling away by as many as 23 points with 10:31 left in the game. But the Pioneers clawed back at the same time Wesleyan shots stopped falling. A flurry of 3-pointers by Point Park’s Aiden Miller chiseled the lead to just eight with 5:38 remaining and Brenden Williams hit a fastbreak layup with just a handful of seconds remaining to bring the Pioneers within a point before the clock ran out.
Junior forward Curtis Litton, usually deep in the paint to patrol for rebounds, found himself alone outside the three-point stripe several times during the evening and he took advantage. The big man sank 5-of-6 from long range and ended the game with a team-high 20 points, two rebounds and an assist.
Bobcat Stephen Ovia hit 8-of-14 for 19 points and added three rebounds, 2 assists and a blocked shot. Alex Mirhosseini and Anthony Crosby each had 13 points. Mirhosseini went 5-of-17 and had four rebounds and nine assists. Crosby went 3-of-6 from the field, added 6-of-8 from the charity stripe and had seven rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot.
The Pioneers’ Kaden Warner had a game-high 24 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Miller scored a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Wesleyan sits at the bottom of the conference table in eleventh place at 2-10 in the MEC but will have a chance to improve when it hosts tenth-place Wheeling University (3-9 in the MEC) on Wednesday, Feb. 5 in the Rockefeller Center. Tip is 7:30 p.m.
