FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State Men's Basketball Team fell in their home game to West Virginia State on Wednesday evening by a score of 91-86.
Frostburg, off to a strong start, scored the first nine points of the game. An immediate dunk from junior Sebastian Ghase, a three from redshirt sophomore Justin Roseme, and two made free throws from junior Kobe Baptiste put the Bobcats up 9-0. WVSU's first points were made free throws to bring the game to 9-2. A missed three by FSU resulted in a three-point play for the Yellow Jackets to make the score 9-5. A turnover in the open court awarded the Yellow Jackets the ball, leading to a made jumper for a 9-7 game. Freshman Logan Lewis with a jumper and junior Robby Williams with a knock down three, with no answer from WVSU, put FSU up seven 14-7. WVSU missed a routine layup, with the ball falling into the hands of Roseme, who ran coast-to-coast for two to increase Frostburg's lead to 16-7. The Yellow Jackets stopped FSU's run with a press-break layup. After a minute went by, freshman Zane McCarty traded layups with WVSU, as the Bobcats went up by five 18-13. West Virginia State forced Frostburg into a turnover resulting in two points and a 18-15 game. A scoreless minute was ended by an WVSU layup to get the Yellow Jackets within one 18-17.
Another minute with no score followed, until WVSU hit a three and took the lead 20-18. Tying the game at 20 apiece was freshman Malcolm Day with a coast-to-coast layup. As WVSU secured an offensive rebound and went for the put back, FSU recorded a foul. The Yellow Jackets went up by two with under six to play in the first half. Solid defense by both teams let another scoreless minute happen. WVSU stopped the drought by breaking the press and scoring two to jump ahead 24-20. At the hands of senior Jaylin Albury, the ball found Day to cut the deficit to one 24-23. WVSU scored the next two layups adding four to their score for a 28-23 game. FSU came down and missed a three, but Williams was there for the offensive rebound. Williams found Baptiste for an open bucket to bring the Bobcats within three, 28-25. A jumper on the next play put the Yellow Jackets back up by five 30-25. Day took the ball to the rim, missed the initial shot, found the rebound, and was sent to the line to bring the game to 30-26. A turnover by WVSU created an open bucket for Baptiste, where he knocked down a a shot to bring the Bobcats within two, 30-28. With under two minutes to play in the half, WVSU put up five points while FSU put up two. The Yellow Jackets went into halftime up 35-30.
Twenty seconds into the second half, WVSU found a right-handed layup to increase their lead to 37-30. After two minutes of missed shots, FSU was called for a foul sending WVSU to the line to go up nine 39-30. Off the inbound, Williams brought the ball up and assisted Day for a 39-32 score. Traded threes from WVSU and Roseme, still had the Yellow Jackets on top 42-35. Two offensive rebounds and a put back put WVSU up nine 44-35. Two turnovers saw the Yellow Jackets with the ball, as Day got his hand in for a steal and a chance at the free-throw line to make the game 44-37. Day kept the energy going for Frostburg, finding Lewis on the run for two and a 46-39 game. A similar play on the next possession from the Bobcats allowed Lewis to hit a three to cut the Yellow Jackets lead to 46-42. WVSU extended their lead to 51-42 after a made layup and three pointer.
Seeing another scoreless minute, the respective teams traded layups to add to their scores 53-44. Baptiste, with a steal turned into a bucket, allowed the game to be 53-46. A quick two shortly after saw WVSU up 55-46. Williams and Baptiste, both knocking down contested threes compared to two from WVSU, put the score at 57-51. The Yellow Jackets, with another miss, allowed FSU to have two points for a 57-53 score. After a few free throws, Williams with another three and Lewis for two, had the score at 61-58 with under ten to play. Williams swapped baskets with WVSU to bring Frostburg within three 63-60. WVSU missed, but Roseme did not, as FSU was down one 63-62. Williams answered back to a Yellow Jacket three to keep the Bobcats within one, 66-65. Lewis then traded baskets with WVSU to make the score 68-67. West Virginia State had four unanswered points creating a larger lead 72-67. Williams with the hot hand, cut their lead to two 72-70.
With under five minutes to play, baskets were once again traded. Baptiste, Lewis, and Day contributed points and the score saw 75-74, still in favor of the Yellow Jackets. Another WVSU layup saw a three-point gap 77-74. Williams, with a clutch three, tied the game at 77 apiece. Each team with two baskets had the score tied once again, this time at 81 apiece with two minutes to play. FSU was called for a foul, with WVSU sinking two free throws for a 83-81 score. Williams, with another three, took the lead back for FSU 84-83. After a few turnovers and foul shots, the Yellow Jackets were up 89-86. As WVSU called a 30 second timeout, Lewis saw a chance at a three to tie the game with 11 seconds left, but was just off the mark, as the time winded out in favor of WVSU, with the Yellow Jackets coming out on top 91-86.
Five Bobcats scored in double digits in Williams (24), Day (18), Baptiste (15), Lewis (13) and Roseme (12). Baptiste led the team in rebounds with nine, as Lewis followed with seven. Baptiste and Williams tied with four steals a piece, as five Bobcats also had one block each. Albury, Baptiste, and Day all saw two steals.
With the conclusion of today's game, Frostburg falls to an overall record of 2-19 and a conference record of 2-12, while WVSU moves to an overall record of 15-5 and a conference record of 11-3. Frostburg Men's Basketball is back in action on Saturday, February 10 as they travel to Charleston (WV) for an MEC matchup starting at 4 PM. For more information visit frostburgsports.com.
