WHEELING, W.Va. — On quarterfinal Friday in the Mountain East Conference Men’s Tournament, Fairmont State and Davis & Elkins won by identical scores. For the Senators, it was their first win in the league tournament. Later on, West Liberty and Notre Dame rolled to victories to setup a semifinal date.
Men’s Tournament Game #3 — No. 2 Fairmont State 77, No. 7 Glenville State 72:
— By Duane Cochran for MountainEast.org
Senior guard Zyon Dobbs enjoyed the game of his life and it took every bit of his efforts to help second-seeded Fairmont State eliminate seventh-seeded Glenville State in the quarterfinals of the annual Mountain East Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament here Friday afternoon at WesBanco Arena.
Dobbs scored a career-high 29 points and grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds to help Fairmont State avenge a pair of regular-season losses to the talented Pioneers and advance to Saturday’s semifinals at 8:30 p.m. The win improved the Falcons to 23-8 on the season. FSU entered the tournament ranked fifth in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Rankings.
“I just felt like as a team we were struggling early to score,” said Dobbs, who scored 18 of his points and tallied six of his rebounds in the crucial second half for Fairmont. “They were playing Zay (FSU’s Isaiah Sanders) physical, they were on our shooters and I felt like they knew what we were going to do. The (driving) lanes were there so I said to myself I’m going to take them.
I also feel like I got some mismatches in the post so I took it there too.
“Briggs (Parris) also shot the ball well for us. He was a great spark for us when he came in. He kept us going.”
Dobbs and Parris combined for 21 of Fairmont’s 34 first-half points and were big reasons the Falcons were able to wipe out a late 10-point lead by the Pioneers and trail by just 36-34 at the break.
“The first time we played them I was out and didn’t play and the second time we played them I probably shot the ball the worst I shot it all year,” said Parris, who finished with a season-high 21 points, 11 of which came in the final 20 minutes. “Honestly, though, I didn’t even think about that. I don’t want to go home.
“I could tell early Zay wasn’t hitting his shot so I knew I needed to step up for this team. To be honest I think they were so intent on not letting Zay score that it opened things up for me.”
Sanders finally got on track in the second half. He finished with 17 points, 10 of which came in the game’s final 10:29 to help Fairmont hold off Glenville. It was Sanders’ 24th straight game in double figures and it marked the 89th time in the last 90 games that the senior has achieved that feat.
Men’s Tournament Game #4 — No. 6 Davis & Elkins 77, No. 3 Charleston 72:
— By Duane Cochran for MountainEast.org
It wasn’t easy, but it was certainly historic and enjoyable for Davis & Elkins College here Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the annual Mountain East Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament at WesBanco Arena.
The sixth-seeded Senators, who joined the Mountain East in 2019, recorded the school’s first-ever win in the league’s tournament eliminating third-seeded University of Charleston.
“I’m so proud of the group because we found a way to win against a really, really good team,” D&E coach Daniel Mondragon said. “We were poised under pressure in the second half. In the first half we executed our game plan about as good as we could have. This is a big-time win for our guys and for our program.”
The victory puts the Senators, who improved to 19-10, in the semifinals of the league tournament Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. against second-seeded Fairmont State (23-8). The Falcons eliminated Glenville State Friday, 77-72.
D&E’s last semifinal tournament appearance came when the Senators were members of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference in 2017. Prior to that their last tournament semifinal showing was in the 1959 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament.
“It’s amazing,” said D&E senior guard Jordan Alexander, who finished with 14 points. “It’s a testament to our season. I think we had a lot of ups and downs. This may sound crazy but as much as I enjoyed the wins, I think I enjoyed the losses more. We’ve been battle-tested. We’ve been through pretty much every game situation possible — from up a lot to possibly losing to down a lot to possibly winning. Those games we lost early in the season, I think, prepared us for this tournament.
“We were up 25 and they came back. We had to really buckle down and lock in on defense as well as offense and we did that today. Like I said, the losses early on in the season prepared us for this moment well.”
In the game’s first 20 minutes D&E was nearly flawless, while UC struggled, playing arguably its worst half of basketball in recent memory. The Senators shot 62 percent from the field, 50 percent from three, out-rebounded the Golden Eagles by 14 and used a 30-10 spurt in the last 10:57 of the half to open what appeared to be a commanding 45-22 halftime advantage.
UC, on the other hand, made just five of its 27 first half field goals (18.5 percent), including a dismal 1-of-10 showing from long range (10 percent). The Golden Eagles also only had 11 rebounds at the break.
The second half, however, was a different story. UC, which holds the record for the largest second-half comeback in MEC Tournament history (11 points) nearly pulled off a miracle. By the midway point of the half Charleston had the contest back to a five-point game at 54-49.
Once UC got it to five, D&E quickly responded and got the margin back to nine and eventually 12 before the Golden Eagles made another surge. Charleston, which outscored D&E 50-32 in the second half, got within three twice in the final 40 seconds, but could get no closer.
The loss ended a streak of three straight appearances by UC in the conference tournament semifinals. The Golden Eagles finished with a 19-10 record.
Men’s Tournament Game #5 — No. 1 West Liberty. 96, No. 8 Concord 72:
— By Shawn Rine for MountainEast.org
Despite his team already owning a pair of lopsided victories this season against eighth-seeded Concord (14-15 overall, 10-13 Mountain East Conference), West Liberty coach Ben Howlett worked himself into a fit of worry heading into Friday night’s MEC Tournament quarterfinal matchup at WesBanco Arena. The way he sees it, anything can happen this time of year.
Turns out the concern was unwarranted.
Conference player of the year Bryce Butler stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, 10 rebounds – his eighth double-double of the season – and four assists as the top-seeded and No. 5-ranked Hilltoppers (26-3, 21-2) advanced to the semifinals for the ninth time in as many seasons, since the league’s inception.
“I was very worried because this is the third time we’ve played them and we handled them pretty handily the last time at our place, and got them pretty good at their place,’’ Howlett said. “We had the week off – they (his players) probably liked that, but I didn’t. I want to play.
“I’m glad to get this win, but we can’t enjoy it for too long because we’ve got to get ready for another opponent.”
Despite shooting 30 percent in the first half, Concord only found itself on the wrong end of a 38-29 halftime deficit. When JJ Harper connected on a 3-pointer to cut it to 42-36 early in the second half, it looked as though those two blowout losses were but distant memories, and that Howlett’s angst was perhaps just.
That’s when West Liberty started doing West Liberty things.
A pair of Christian Montague free throws ignited a lightning-quick 13-2 WLU blackout and the lead suddenly ballooned to what was an insurmountable 17-point cushion.
“It happens so fast,” Concord coach Todd May said. “I only get four timeouts and I can’t use them all on consecutive possessions.
“You have to give them credit. We turned it over 18 times and they turned those into 22 points. There’s a reason they’re No. 5 in the country and going to make a deep run in the next couple weeks, in this tournament and in the regional.’’
Men’s Tournament Game #6 — No. 5 Notre Dame 92, West Virginia State 79:
— By Shawn Rine for MountainEast.org
Some say the third time is the charm. While that may not always be the case, it certainly rang true Friday night in a Mountain East Tournament quarterfinal at WesBanco Arena.
After falling twice to No. 4 West Virginia State (20-9 overall, 14-9 MEC) during the regular season, No. 5 Notre Dame College (17-12, 13-10) earned the sweetest revenge, as well as a date with top-seeded West Liberty at 6 tonight back at the same venue.
Obinna Ugwuakazi scored 22 points to lead five double-figure scorers and also grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds – three off the MEC Tourney record — as the Falcons held the Yellow Jackets to 34.6-percent shooting in a runaway victory.
“We talked over and over about guarding our yard. We knew they were very athletic and that we were going to have to guard 1-on-1,” Notre Dame coach Mark Richmond said, “We had to keep them in front of us.
“The first two games (against State) we were always playing catchup. They’re explosive, fast and can get back in it quickly.”
In fact, that was the topic in both locker rooms at halftime. NDC held State to 25-percent shooting in the first half en route to a 38-21 lead. Yet there was a sense that somehow, some way the Yellow Jackets were going to make things interesting. After all, a letdown would have been nothing more than human nature.
The Falcons weren’t about to let that happen, however. They opened the second half with three consecutive 3-pointers – one from Jamarr Talbert Jr. and a pair off the right hand of Tyland Crawford, to make it 47-21. Samier Kinsler – team-high 22 points – momentarily stopped the bleeding with a State bucket, but Crawford again responded from beyond the arc.
“It was huge,” W.Va. State coach Bryan Poore said. “If we can whittle it down to a 10- or 12-point lead, maybe we get them second-guessing themselves.
“But they hit those 3s and that obviously hurt. Notre Dame played outstanding and we need to give them their flowers.
“They advance and we go home.”
It turns out, the Falcons had learned their lesson just a few nights earlier against Alderson-Broaddus. They had a cushion in that one but ended up falling, 79-73.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” Richmond said. “When you look at our balance, we had five guys in double-figures and that obviously is a good thing.
“And Obinna with 22 and 19, he played large. And Tyland hit some big shots for us, especially in the second half.”
Saturday’s Schedule
Women’s
Noon – #1 Glenville State vs. #4 Fairmont State
2:30 p.m. – #3 Charleston vs. #7 Concord
Men’s
6 p.m. – #1 West Liberty vs. #5 Notre Dame
8::30 p.m. – #2 Fairmont State vs. #6 Davis & Elkins