FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State Men's basketball team dropped their Wednesday night home game against MEC-leading and eleventh-ranked West Liberty 106-90.

The Hilltoppers started the game winning the jump ball and scoring the first layup, to which FSU immediately answered back with senior Jamil Jones making a floating jump shot. Frostburg took the lead early, after a defensive stop that turned into an offensive board and layup for redshirt junior Jason Murphy, but WLU used their vaunted press to go on a six-point run and gain a 10-4 advantage. Senior Jaylon Johnson subbed in and weaved his way through the press, scoring a layup for the Bobcats, but West Liberty bounced back with five straight to go up by nine. Junior Jaylin Albury and Murphy scored on back-to-back trips down the offensive end, but the Hilltoppers went on another scoring spurt with nine in a row to take a 24-10 lead. FSU simply couldn't keep pace with the high-powered WLU offense, as the visitors raced up to a 22-point advantage with just under seven minutes left in the half. The Bobcats managed to churn out some offense, as graduate Vincent Smalls, Murphy, and Jones combined for 11 points in two minutes to get within 15. Each side traded blows throughout the final five minutes, with senior Agyei Edwards and Johnson making a late three each to bring the halftime score to 56-39 West Liberty. 

The first five minutes of the second half the Bobcats locked in on defense and only allowed two-points from the Hilltoppers. Along with their strong defense the Bobcats came out firing, with graduate Juston Bailey, Murphy, Johnson, and Jones scoring Frostburg's first 10 points to pull within nine inside five minutes. Bailey then got hot from long range, as his teammates found him behind the arc five times in the next six minutes, as the forward could not miss, hitting all of them to pull the score to 80-72. Edwards and Murphy provided three buckets during the run, then Bailey took over again with back-to-back scores to get all the way within six. WLU showed their mettle, scoring a quick eight points to go back up by 14 in the blink of an eye. Johnson and Bailey scored the next five points, but FSU couldn't get enough stops down the stretch to end the game in a 106-90 Hilltopper win. 

Bailey tied his career-high, leading all scorers on 25 points, going 9-of-12 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 from behind the arc. Murphy and Edwards both finished with double-doubles, as the former put up 18 and 13 to the latter's 10 and 11, while Johnson ended with 15 points and Albury dished out a game-high seven assists. 

With the loss, Frostburg moves to 8-17 on the season, while West Liberty improves to 22-3. FSU will be back in action Saturday, February 18, as they travel to Wheeling for a 4 p.m. tip-off. For more information visit frostburgsports.com.