The West Virginia men’s basketball team beat Mercyhurst 67-46 in their final non-conference game of the season. The win improved their overall record to 9-2, tying the amount of wins they had last season under interim head coach Josh Eilert.
Mercyhurst just recently made the transition from Division II to Division I this past fall. The school previously was in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and now is a member of the Northeast Conference (NEC).
Mercyhurst landed on the board first, but a three-pointer from freshman Jonathan Powell quickly followed. Just one minute into the game, sophomore Amani Hansberry was sidelined for a right lower leg injury. The Mountaineers finished the half with a score of 35-22. Head coach Darian DeVries thought his team had things to improve on heading into the second half.
“We just got to get a little better movement on offense, we are standing too much, everyone’s trying to make it happen too quickly,” said DeVries. “So we just got to get the pieces moving a little bit so then we can get better opportunities.”
During the second half, the Lakers went on an 8-0 run turning the score gap to single digits. The Mountaineers answered with a 16-0 run. West Virginia managed to keep the lead in double digits for the remainder of the game.
Senior Javon Small hit 1,000 career points during the second half and led the Mountaineers with 19 points and seven assists. He went 6-7 at the free throw line. From the bench, fifth-year Eduardo Andre followed behind with 14 points.
West Virginia will hit the road on New Year’s Eve to face No. 8 Kansas in their first conference game of the season at 2:00 p.m. The Jayhawks have an overall record of 8-2.
