INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The Frostburg State Men's Basketball team traveled to take on the #24 West Virginia State Yellow Jackets for a Saturday afternoon contest, winning by a score of 78-73 in a hard-fought effort.
Graduate Vincent Smalls came ready to play, as he swiped a steal on WVSU's first possession, then grabbed an offensive rebound and putback for the first score of the game. Frostburg gained an early lead, going on an 8-0 run to open the first half, as junior Sean Brown, Jr. showed off his range from beyond the arc to extend the lead to 11-1. Junior Jason Murphy found his way to the basket on back-to-back trips down the floor to further extend the lead to 15-1 just five minutes into the game.
The Bobcats would continue to put on a show, with senior Agyei Edwards knocking down his first three-pointer of the afternoon, ballooning the lead to 22-1 just seven minutes into the game. WVSU started the game 0-13 from the field, as FSU's defense forced five turnovers during the stretch. Eventually, the Yellow Jackets broke their duck, scoring 10 unanswered to get a foothold in the game. Murphy would continue to work under the basket for the Bobcats, twice getting his own rebound to convert and keep the score at 26-17 in favor of Frostburg. After WVSU fought all the way back to within six, senior Jaylon Johnson knocked down a shot at the top of the arc to regain some momentum at 40-31. Murphy slammed a dunk off an assist from junior Jaylin Albury, who himself scored on the Bobcats' last possession of the half, but the Yellow Jackets had the last say with a last-second three to take the game into the half at 44-36 FSU.
It was the first Bobcat halftime lead since December 13, a run of eight games dating back to a home win over Mansfield, as Murphy led the team with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Murphy opened up the scoring in the second half for FSU, once again battling under the basket for a score before Brown Jr. knocked down his second basket from beyond the arc to make things 49-42 Bobcats. Both teams would struggle to find the basket midway through the second half until Murphy dropped in back-to-back layups at 59-51 Frostburg with just over 10 minutes to go.
The Yellow Jackets continued to chip away at the lead, eventually finding themselves ahead 61-59 after some stout defense with just over eight minutes remaining in the second half. Edwards tied the game once again off of a transition pull-up to make the score 61-61 with six minutes to go. Each team exchanged baskets in the next couple possessions, finding themselves tied once again at 68 with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
The final minute of the game proved to be a nail biter, as neither team wanted to drop their game. Smalls would give the Bobcats a two point lead off of a driving layup to make the score 70-68 with one minute to go, then WVSU tied the game back up after converting on two free throws after an Edwards foul. Brown Jr. and Edwards gave the Bobcats the lead back on back-to-back baskets to make the score 74-70 with 23 seconds left. After a costly Yellow Jacket turnover, Edwards would be fouled and was able to convert on both free throws to make the lead six for the Bobcats with 13 seconds to go. Graduate Bo Schene came up big in the final seconds, causing another turnover and finishing at the other end to give Frostburg a 78-70 lead with one second to go, as a late WVSU three was too little, too late, giving FSU the upset 78-73 victory over the 24th-ranked team in the country.
Frostburg outrebounded the Yellow Jackets 46-32, including a 23-11 advantage offensively. Murphy's double-double led all scorers with 27 points and 15 rebounds, inlcuding a whopping 10 on the offensive glass. Other notable Bobcat scorers were Edwards with 15 points and Brown Jr. with 12 points, while Smalls followed close behind Murphy, gathering 11 rebounds of his own.
With the stunning victory, FSU improves to 6-14 on the year while the Yellow Jackets fall to 15-5. Make sure to catch the Bobcats back in action on Wednesday, February 1 as they travel to Concord for a 7:30PM matchup. For information and updates, please visit http://frostburgsports.com.
