Fairmont, W.Va. – The Edinboro men's basketball team dropped a 92-87 decision to West Virginia Wesleyan Friday night in the first game of the Joe Retton Classic hosted by Fairmont State.
All five Fighting Scot starters reached double figure scoring led by 28 points from
Bernie Blunt.
The Bobcats grabbed an 80-79 lead with 2:14 to play after an Ike Dove layup. After the Scots missed a three,
Daunte Wilcott split a pair of free throws knotting the game at 80 with 1:22 left. Wesleyan finished the game on a 12-7 spurt keyed by shooting 10-of-10 at the free throw line.
Edinboro trailed 50-39 at the 18:12 mark of the second, but used an 18-6 run led by seven points from
JJ Eubank to grab a 57-56 lead with 12:02 to play. The Bobcats scored the next eight points to retake the lead 64-57 halfway through the second.
Blunt made back-to-back buckets to trim the lead to 64-61 before
Madior Seye scored a layup and
Jack Gallagher hit a pair of free throws to take the lead back 65-64 at the 8:55 mark of the second. The teams traded the lead back and forth with the Scots taking a 79-75 lead on a Gallagher fastbreak bucket with 3:34 to play.
Edinboro got out to a fast start taking an 11-4 lead on a Eubank 3-pointer at the 17:10 mark of the first. Wesleyan answered back with a 9-2 tying the game at 13 at the 14:09 mark. Gallagher jump started a 10-0 run with his layup at the 13:50 mark as the Scots grabbed a 23-13 advantage.
The Scot lead held at 10, 39-29, with 3:27 to play after a Wilcott bucket. The Bobcats closed the half on an 11-0 run to take a 40-39 lead into the locker room.
In addition to Blunt, Wilcott picked up a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Gallagher finished the night with 17 points, eight boards and three assists. Eubank chipped in 12 points and a team-best four helpers. Seye was the fifth Scot in double figures with 10 points to go with six boards.
Dieker Padrino paced the Wesleyan offense with 32 points. Manasseh Small added 11 and Raphael Houssou tallied 10.
The Scots are back in action on Saturday when they take on host Fairmont State at 8 p.m. inside Joe Retton Arena.
