Best Virgina Takes Down Bucketneers
Charleston, WV - Contributions from every Best Virginia member was needed in the Mountaineers 63-62 win over the Bucketneers in the West Virginia Regional of the TBT Wednesday night at the Charleston Coliseum.
Best Virginia fell behind 8-4 in the opening minutes until guards Teyvon Myers and Jaysean Paige buried consecutive threes to spark a 17-5 run to end the first quarter. Seven different Mountaineers hit a bucket and grabbed a 22-13 advantage after one quarter of play.
Devin Ebanks pushed the lead to 11 in the opening minutes of the second quarter on a contested layup. However, the Bucketneers started to chip away at the lead, getting within 4 with 43 seconds remaining in the quarter but Jaysean Paige responded on the following trip down the floor with a three to go back up seven as time expired.
The Bucketneers opened the third quarter on an 8-0 run behind a pair of Best Virginia turnovers to take the lead and increased the advantage outscoring the Mountaineers 17-6 in the first five minutes of action to take a four-point advantage 43-39, forcing Best Virginia head coach James Long to take a timeout.
Best Virginia came out of the break on a 7-0 run, five came from Jamel Morris highlighted by a three from the right wing, regaining the lead 46-43 with just over a minute remaining in the third but the Bucketneers cut the -lead down to one heading in the final quarter.
Field goals were at a premium in the fourth quarter and the two were knotted at 55 when the ELAM ending of 63 was announced.
Best Virginia went on a 6-0 spurt and was a bucket away from a victory before the offense stalled and the Bucketneers came back to take a 62-61 lead. Then, Kevin Jones received the ball at the foul line, turned around and buried the jumper for the win.
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