Mountaineers' Comeback Falls Short Against UMass

Springfield, MA - The West Virginia Mountaineers (4-6) trailed by 18 early in the second half and stormed back to tie the game at 60 with nine minutes left to play but a late surge by Mass gave the Minutemen (6-2) an 87-79 victory.

UMass began the game on a 12-4 run within the first five minutes of action before West Virginia answered with a 13-4 run to grab its first lead of the game 17-16 behind a pair of threes from newly instated point guard Kerr Kriisa, including a four-point play.

The Mountaineers held a 21-20 lead following a jumper from forward Akok Akok but UMass forward Robert Davis Jr. hit three consecutive threes as part of a 24-5 run as the Minutemen took a 44-29 advantage into halftime.

Kerr Kriisa led all scorers at the break with 14 points, shooting 4-8 from the three-point line.

UMass matched its largest lead of 18 points early in the second half, but West Virginia Josiah Harris buried back-to-back threes from the corner to pull the Mountaineers within 11 at the 16:10 mark of the first half.

Robert Davis Jr. answered with consecutive deep threes while Mountaineer guard Noah Farrakhan drove to the basket and hit a three to keep WVU within 12, paving the way for a 19-4 run that was capped off with four-straight three pointers to tie the game a 60 with nine minutes remaining in the game.

A 5-0 spurt capped off by Davis's sixth three of the evening gave the Minutemen a 65-60 lead.

West Virginia cut the deficit to one following a putback from forward Pat Suemnick with just over three minutes to play.

However, the Mountaineers followed by shooting 0-7 from the field, opening the door for a 9-0 UMass run as the Minutemen pull away to win 87-79.

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