DOVER, Del. – Despite leading at halftime, the Frostburg State men's basketball team suffered a close, 70-59 Capital Athletic Conference loss at Wesley, Saturday afternoon.
FSU (5-10, 3-5 CAC) and Wesley (4-11, 2-6 CAC) exchanged points throughout the first eight and a half minutes of the game before the Bobcats went on a 6-2 run to take a 9-6 lead.
Tough defense from both teams saw the game tie seven different times with neither side taking larger than a three-point lead before senior James Peters hit a last-second layup to give the Bobcats a slim 23-22 lead at the half.
Back-to-back layups from senior Shawn Henson and freshman Edwin Cole opened the second half to give FSU a five-point advantage, 27-22, but a pair of made free throws each from Wesley's Rasahn Brinkley and Evan Anderson brought the game back within one, 27-26, with 17:35 left to play.
Down one, 32-31, sophomore Tyler Michael made a layup while a jumper and three from Peters gave the Bobcats their largest lead of the game, 38-32, with just over 12 minutes to go.
The Wolverines stormed back with eight unanswered points to reclaim the lead, 42-39; however, Michael and sophomore Christopher Coston combined for three points from the charity stripe to knot the game at 42-42. JW Lawson then made two free throws of his own to temporarily take back the lead for the hosts, but a huge three-pointer from sophomore Dalton Gaus sent the Bobcats back ahead, 45-44, with 7:28 remaining.
The deciding factor proved to be foul shots as Wesley finished 8-for-8 down the stretch to put the game out of reach for Frostburg.
Henson led FSU with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Michael added 12 points and four boards. Senior Nick Smoot led all players with five assists to go along with his eight points and three rebounds.
Lawson finished with 15 points, while Jordan Johnson added 11 points and five rebounds. Combined, Lawson and Johnson were 14-of-15 from the free throw line.
The Bobcats head to York (Pa.) on Wednesday, January 20 to take on the Spartans at 8:00 pm.
