BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The Frostburg State men's basketball team earned its third victory of the season after surviving a late surge, defeating Bridgewater (Va.), 79-74 on the road on Saturday afternoon.
Frostburg's record improves to 3-3 with the victory while the Eagles fall to 2-4.
The action started well for the Bobcats as they took an early 10-0 lead just over two minutes into the game. Junior guard Lawrence Pettis opened the scoring with a layup and followed that with a three-pointer later on in the run, giving him an early five points.
The Eagles would trim their deficit to just two points halfway through the first half, after a Jimmie Sanders layup made the score 21-19 in favor of FSU. The Bobcats would pull away after scoring seven unanswered points, highlighted by a three-point jumper from junior guard Daniel Alexander to give Frostburg a 28-19 advantage.
The Bobcats stayed ahead for the remainder of the half, and took an 11-point advantage over the Eagles right before the break after a successful layup from senior Edwin Cole. Going into the halftime locker room, the score stood at 45-34.
Alexander led the game in scoring in the first half, putting up 13 points while adding three assists and two rebounds. Pettis and Cole each had seven points in the first twenty minutes, with Pettis contributing an assist and two rebounds while Cole brought in five boards. The Eagles were led by sophomore Dimetri Chambers, who collected nine points in the half.
The Eagles made up some ground to start the second half, as freshman Liam Caswell collected three points on a layup and a free throw after sophomore Josh Cammon nailed a three-pointer to bring the game to within five points.
After a Ken Stanciel layup brought the Eagles to within two points with 14:41 left to play, the Bobcats went on an 8-0 run, starting with a three-pointer made by first-year Blake Hatcher. The run ended with a Cole layup and a free throw to put the Bobcats on top again by 10, 58-48.
The Eagles fought back to take their first lead of the game, 68-67 with 7:43 left in the second half after junior forward Davrion Grier dropped in a successful three-pointer. From then on, the game went back and forth until back-to-back jump shots from Alexander put Frostburg up, 73-69 with just under four and a half minutes remaining in regulation.
With the score sitting at 77-74 and just over one second left on the clock, Sanders tossed up a three-point attempt that would have tied the game for Bridgewater, but it bounced off the rim and into the arms of Alexander, clinching the Bobcat victory. After two successful free throws from Alexander, the final score was 79-74 as the time expired.
Alexander went 9-15 from the field on his way to collecting a game-high 25 points, his second straight game with at least 25. Cole and first-year Torrin Stephens each had a double-double for the Bobcats, with Cole finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds while Stephens had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Cammon earned 16 points and 10 rebounds for an Eagles double-double while Chambers led the team with 17 points.
The Bobcats will be on the court again on Friday, December 7 as they head to Farmville, Virginia to take on Division I Longwood. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
