Poor second half costs ‘Cats in 73-50 setback to Battlers

Duane Carpenter
February 6, 2023

PHILIPPI, W.Va. – The West Virginia Wesleyan men’s basketball team were defeated by Alderson Broaddus on the road on Saturday evening 73-50. The Battlers shot 46% from the field and knocked down eight three-pointers in the win.

Kabe Ellis connected on a three to start the scoring off for the Bobcats. Jalen Collins answered for the Battlers with a midrange jumper. Ike Dove returned to action for WVWC, connecting on his first shot of the game. Wesleyan jumped out to a 12-8 lead with AB head coach Stephen Dye calling an early timeout. Jalen Anderson hit back-to-back buckets right before the under-10 media timeout. Zach Simpkins gave AB their first lead of the game at 19-18 with a straightaway three.

Anthony Craven Jr. hit a pair of free throws and Darius Green hit a contested three over Frasier LaRocque with the shot clock winding down for his second triple of the game, putting the Bobcats up 26-21 with just over six minutes left in the half. The Battlers went on a 10-3 run in the closing minutes to take a 31-29 lead into the locker room. Green picked up his third foul of the game as well in the final minute of the half.

Ellis threaded the needle on a backdoor pass to a cutting D’Vante Rivera to start the new half off strong for the Bobcats. After the opening bucket from Rivera, the Bobcats hadn’t scored again once the under-15 media timeout approached and the Battlers used that to their advantage, growing a 42-33 lead. AB didn’t let off the gas as they increased their scoring run to 18-2 and lead up to 16, causing Wesleyan to call a timeout.

Scoring droughts continued to hurt WVWC for the remainder of the game. Alderson Broaddus had a lead as big as 27, outscoring the Bobcats 42-21 and shooting 53% in the second half. Nick Fenstermacher and Shawn Moran added baskets in the closing minute of the game.

Collins led all scorers with 16 points on 50% shooting from the field. Zach Simpkins put in 12 points while Coryon Rice and Jon King added 11 points each for AB.

Rivera was the only double-digit scorer for the Bobcats, finishing with 10 points and grabbing five rebounds. Wesleyan’s leading scorer, Green, was held to just nine points.

WVWC will make a quick turnaround and play Salem at home on Monday at 6 p.m.