Basketball ‘Cats slump in second half in 30-point loss to West Virginia State

BUCKHANNON W.Va – WVWC men’s basketball dropped a home conference clash to West Virginia State 106-76 on Saturday evening. West Virginia State outrebounded the Bobcats 44-25, including 13 offensive rebounds.

WV State jumped out to a 9-2 lead, forcing Head Coach Derek Sloan to take an early timeout. The Yellow Jackets extended the lead to 13-2 but the lead was trimmed down to five at the under-10 media timeout. Tyler Slone caught fire from behind the arc, closing in on the Yellow Jackets.

Wesleyan took their first lead of the game on a Slone jumper with just under five minutes to go. The two teams traded baskets, the lead changing with every basket made. Wesleyan appeared to be taking the lead into the half until back-to-back dunks by WV State gave them a 41-40 lead at the break.

The Bobcats took the lead back once again off another Tyler Slone three-pointer in the opening minutes of the second half. WV State regained it seconds later and didn’t look back. The Yellow Jackets went on a 27-4, scoring in transition and forcing turnovers.

Wesleyan cut the lead back down to 14 with just under nine minutes to go, but WV State went on another run, this time a 21-5 lead to pull away from the Bobcats. Samier Kinsler led the Yellow Jackets in scoring with 26 points on 50% shooting from the field. WV State had four other players in double-figures.

Slone led the Bobcats in scoring and had a career-high 29 points, surpassing his old career-high of 28 that he had against WV State last season. Darius Green put together another productive outing, scoring 18 points and grabbing nine rebounds.

Wesleyan is back in action on Wednesday night at home against Concord at 7:30 p.m.

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