FROSTBURG, Md.- The Frostburg State Men's basketball team dropped a Saturday afternoon MEC contest to West Virginia State, 88-77.
The Yellow Jackets got an easy dunk under the bucket to start the game, but junior Torrin Stephens answered right back with an offensive rebound and a tough layup, followed by a bucket from graduate Canaan Bartley to take a quick lead. WVSU then went on a scoring run, getting out to an 18-10 lead that was halted by back-to-back threes from freshman Justin Roseme to keep the score tight, 21-16 at the eleven-minute mark.
After another dunk got the Yellow Jacket lead back to seven, Roseme would knock down his third three-pointer of the game to push the deficit back to four. WVSU would try multiple times to stretch the lead to double-digits, but junior Agyei Edwards had different plans as he kept the Bobcats within striking distance with a pair of layups and a three to get the score to 34-30. Sophomore Jaylon Johnson would hit a big three with a little over a minute left in the half to bring Frostburg within three, but the Yellow Jackets would answer back with a three for themselves right before the buzzer to make it a 41-35 game going into the half.
Junior Bo Schene would start the second half like the first and hit a jumper to get the scoring started for Frostburg, but WVSU would go on a run to push their lead to 10. Edwards ended the run with a three, then added a jumper to get FSU within seven at 44-51. Johnson then caught fire offensively, scoring a jumper and adding a three before junior Micheal Tate Jr. got a steal and an easy layup at the other end to bring the score to 53-51 Yellow Jackets. That was as close as the Bobcats would get for the rest of the game, however, as WVSU would answer with a pair of threes and a layup to push their lead to 10.
Frostburg attempted to get back into the game on a couple occasions, including graduate Jihar Williams drilling a pair of triples to get within six, but the Yellow Jacket offense responded each time FSU made a comeback attempt. Down the stretch, Johnson and Edwards would both hit jumpers to keep the deficit within four, but WVSU was too much to handle late, as they would stretch the lead to 14 and not look back, winning 88-77.
Edwards led the way for Frostburg as he recorded a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Roseme (11), Johnson (12), and Bartley (10) would each contribute double-digit scoring efforts, while Johnson also had a team-high three assists.
With the loss, the Bobcats drop to 6-14 and the Yellow Jackets climb to 15-5. Frostburg will be back in action at Bobcat Arena on Wednesday, February 2 at 7:30 P.M. as they take on Concord. For information and updates stay tuned at frostburgsports.com.
