Published: November 16, 2008 10:12 pm            

FSU cruises past Wesleyan, 94-70

FAIRMONT — Less than two minutes into Sunday afternoon’s Fairmont State-West Virginia Wesleyan men’s basketball game in the Global Science and Technology-Fairmont State University Tip-Off Classic at the Joe Retton Arena, the visiting Bobcats had the home crowd a bit stunned.

A layup and two-hand slam by the Bobcats’ Neven Zeravica and a 3-pointer by Steve Nichols had Wesleyan on top 7-0 and the small, but boisterous Bobcat faithful were on their feet and cheering.

But the excitement soon faded. FSU calmly erased the seven-point deficit over the next six minutes with a 17-2 run and the rout for all intents and purposes was on as the Falcons rolled to a 94-70 non-conference win to improve to 2-0 on the young season.

“We never panicked there early,” said FSU senior guard Thad McFadden, who dished out a game-high seven assists and led all scorers in the contest with 22 points. “We had some early turnovers and took some quick shots and they hit some shots and got up on us. For us, though, it was a case of settling in, running our offense and getting a couple of buckets. Once that happened, we turned things around and got going.”

With 4:23 left in the opening half FSU led 34-19, but the Bobcats staged a rally of their own and cut the margin to six at 34-28 on a three-point play by Jerel Thomas with 2:43 left in the half.

The Falcons, though, answered the Bobcats’ spurt with an 11-0 run to end the half and took a 45-28 advantage to the locker room.

In the first two minutes of the second half FSU quickly extended its lead to 20 and after that the outcome was never in doubt.

Fairmont, which shot 50 percent from the field in the win (34 of 68) and outrebounded the Bobcats, 43-30, placed four players in double figures in the scoring column led by McFadden’s 22. Redshirt freshman guard Steve Custis chipped in 20 points, sophomore guard Michale Lopez added 14 and senior center Ian Grady posted his first career double-double in an FSU uniform with 15 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

Grady, a transfer from Shepherd University, also handed out five assists. He wasted little time establishing himself in the paint in the game. He scored 11 of his 15 points and grabbed seven of his 14 rebounds in the first half.

“I really tried to not think about anything and just go out and play hard,” said Grady, who collected six offensive rebounds in the win. “Everyone on this team is focused on winning and that’s all I wanted to do — help us win.

“I’m blessed because I’m playing here with a lot of great shooters on this team. When you have that as a post player it gives you a lot of space. Pretty much everyone on this team can step out and hit shots from the outside and when you have that threat, it gives you a lot of room to operate inside. It also gives you a lot of offensive rebounding opportunities as well.”

Fairmont nailed 11 of 29 3-pointers in the win led by McFadden and Lopez, who drained four apiece. FSU was also a solid 15 of 18 at the foul line.

Wesleyan, which shot 40 percent from the field (24 of 60), was led by Nichols’ 17 points. He scored 15 points in the first half, but was held to just two after the break. The Bobcats also got 16 points from Thomas, 14 from Zeravica and 10 from Justin Caldwell.

The loss dropped Wesleyan to 0-2 on the year.

Fairmont State will return to action Saturday at 4 p.m. when it hosts Wheeling Jesuit in the second game of a doubleheader at the Joe Retton Arena. FSU’s women will tangle with the Lady Cardinals in the opener at 2 p.m.

The contest will be the West Virginia Conference opener for both schools.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.