BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Wesleyan men’s basketball team lost a non-conference matchup to Salem on Wednesday night 74-38. The Bobcats were held to their lowest point total of the season, shooting 17-64 (27%) from the field and 1-18 (6%) from deep in the loss. Salem shot 55% from the field and outrebounded the Bobcats 51-27.
Anthony Craven Jr. put the Bobcats in the scoring column first, connecting on an 18-foot jumper from the top of the key. Salem countered, going on a 13-0 run until Jalen Anderson was able to hit a dribble pullup to stop the bleeding with a little over 13 minutes left in the half. Both teams were struggling to score over the next couple of minutes with Salem up 14-6 at the under-10 media timeout.
Darius Green was able to find his rhythm, hitting multiple buckets in a row. Green was the only one able to find his rhythm during this time, scoring 11 of Wesleyan’s 15 first half points. The Tigers outscored the Bobcats 21-9 after the under-10 media timeout, taking a 35-15 lead into the locker room. Wesleyan shot 7-29 from the field (24%) in the opening half while Salem shot 15-27 (56%).
The Bobcats were able to score quickly out of the break with Darius Green going coast-to-coast for a layup. Craven Jr. came down a couple possessions later and found his spot, hitting another midrange jumper from the top of the key.
The offense would go stale once again, allowing Salem to increase their lead even more. Wesleyan was able to get good looks from deep but just couldn’t connect. The Tigers were able to put the game away by connecting from deep and denying any inside opportunity the Bobcats had.
Salem was led by Ashraf Tchadouwa’s 12 points and 11 rebounds. Stan Smith also put in 12 points in the win. Ian Hardy and Riley Heatherington both chimed in with nine points each.
Green finished with 15 points on the night. Craven Jr. was the other double-figure scorer, dropping 12 points and pulling down six rebounds.
Wesleyan will be home on Wednesday to face the University of Charleston at 7:30 p.m.
