FAIRMONT, W.Va. – The West Virginia Wesleyan men’s basketball team lost at Fairmont State on Wednesday night 104-55. The Falcons shot 14-31 from three (45%) and outrebounded the Bobcats 43-29 en route to their 21st win of the season.
Fairmont State put themselves in the scoring column first with a Zyon Dobbs three just seconds into the game. Anthony Craven Jr. did what he does best to put the Bobcats on the board, knocking down a 15-foot jumper at the top of the key. The Falcons hit another three but Craven Jr. was able to show off his range with a deep three-pointer to cut it to three until Isaiah Sanders got loose on the fast-break and made it 14-9 at the first media timeout of the game.
A beautiful pass in transition from Kabe Ellis to Craven Jr. tied it at 14 with a little under 13 minutes left in the first half. Ike Dove and Darius Green were able to connect on layups right before the commercial break with the Bobcats only trailing 21-18 at the under-10 media timeout. The Falcons built an 11-point lead out of the timeout thanks to a 9-0 run. Shawn Moran stopped scoring drought with a contested layup at the basket. Overall, the Falcons closed the half out on a 28-8 run to bust the game open, leading 49-26 at the half.
Dove was able to rebound his own miss and convert down low to start the new half for the Bobcats. Fairmont State’s red-hot shooting from deep continued, starting 3-5 from three in the first six minutes. Craven Jr.’s hot shooting didn’t stop either, knocking down a pair of midrange jumpers before the under-10 media timeout.
Midway through the second half, the Falcons led 78-40. Dove reached double-figures off of a pick-and-roll layup from Ellis. Both teams would begin to empty their benches for the final eight minutes of action to close out the night.
Twelve Falcons scored in the matchup, led by Sanders’ 17 points. Briggs Parris buried four three-pointers and finished with 16 points. David Jolinder and Dobbs both put up 15 points for Fairmont. Jolinder grabbed nine rebounds and Dobbs dished out five assists as well in the win.
Craven Jr. was the leading scorer for the Bobcats tonight with 17 points. D’Vante Rivera added 12 points and Dove had a near double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds. Ellis and Moran both handed out three assists.
Wesleyan will wrap up the 2023 season on Saturday at Davis & Elkins at 4 p.m.
