West Virginia State sweeps Blue Knights

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INSTITUTE, W. Va. – Carlas Jackson poured in a season-high 27 points but Urbana University men’s basketball fell short in a Mountain East Conference matchup to West Virginia State, 87-76, in front of 341 fans inside Walker Convocation Center on Saturday.

With the setback, UU dropped to 2-5 on the year and 0-4 against MEC teams. WVSU improved to 2-3 and 2-2 in league play.

The Blue Knights shot 60 percent (27 of 45) from the field, but the difference came on 19 3-pointers made by the Yellow Jackets. WVSU’s Ernest Jenkins drained 10 treys.

Three Knights scored career highs, including Demetrius Carr (17), Ethan Snapp (15) and Aarmanni Garnett (13).

Jackson scored 15 in the second half and 12 in the first period, as he now stands at 971 points scored in his career.

UU led by as many as seven in the first half when a Snapp jumper made it 15-8 at the 13:36 mark.

The Blue Knights went on a three-minute drought from the field near the end of the period to go down 11, but they clawed back to make it a six-point deficit at halftime, 48-42.

UU never led in the second half but played within two possessions of the Jackets for most the final 20 minutes.

After going down by 13 with six minutes left, a Garnett layup ignited a quick 8-0 run from the Blue Knights to make it a five-point spread. Snapp nailed his third 3-pointer to make the score 77-72 with 4:29 left in regulation.

Unfortunately for UU, the Jackets countered with a 7-0 run to hold the lead for good.

UU was out-rebounded 43-22 and had 14 turnovers. WVSU gave the ball away 11 times.

UU will begin a run of four games in six days when it returns to the court on Saturday at Davis & Elkins (W. Va).

All four opponents are out of conference with two games billed as exhibition matchups against Division I teams (IUPUI and Wright State).

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INSTITUTE, W. Va. – The Urbana University women’s basketball team came up short against West Virginia State in a high-scoring affair Saturday, 111-98.

UU dropped to 2-4 overall and remains winless in conference play. WVSU improved to 4-3 overall and 3-1 against Mountain East Conference teams.

Five Blue Knights scored in double digits, led by junior guard Danie Shafer’s 27 points and team-high eight rebounds.

Both teams shot 48 percent and featured five players with double-figure scoring.

UU fired off 81 shots, going 9 of 30 from beyond the arc and 11 of 12 at the free-throw line.

Freshman guard Morgan Mattimore added a career-high 21 points while Stefanie Davis (16), Megan Beachy (11) and Jennifer Alflen (10) were other contributors.

The Yellow Jackets were paced by Aurreshae Hines’ game-high 29 points on 9-of-10 shooting. Tatyana Reynolds added 22 points with three others in double figures.

The Blue and Grey led early in the first quarter but trailed the rest of the game. The first stanza was an extremely fast-paced period with WVSU holding a 33-31 edge.

UU’s production dipped a bit in the second quarter as the Jackets entered the half-time break holding a 59-50 advantage.

In the third, UU got within four points on a pair of Shafer free throws to make it 68-64 at the 6:14 mark. However, the Jackets ran out to a 91-76 lead at the end of the frame.

UU outscored the home team 22-20 in the fourth. But it was too little, too late for the Knights.

UU returns to action when it hosts Cedarville on Tuesday, Dec. 13. Tipoff inside the Grimes Center is slated for 6:30 p.m.

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