Charleston, W.Va. - The Glenville State Pioneer men's basketball team held on and picked up their first win of the 2018-19 season as they defeated the Seton Hill University Griffins, 100-93 in the PSAC/MEC Conference Challenge on the campus of the University of Charleston on Friday evening.
Glenville State (1-0) shot 47 percent from the floor going 32-of-68 while Seton Hill (0-1) shot 48 percent from the field going 37-of-76.
The Pioneers got off to a fast start as
Ty Robinson scored the first two point of the season. Seton Hill came right back and tied it up at 2-2. However, after that tie GSC scored the next seven points as they held a 9-2 lead with 16:11 to play.
The Griffins then made a run of their own as they scored 10 straight points as they took a 12-9 lead over the Pioneers at the 13:35 mark of the first half.
Glenville State made some separation with under 10:00 minute to play as they went up by nine points 29-20 as
Karl Jeanty connected on a three-pointer.
With under five minutes left,
Jamal Pollydore, of the Pioneers, stretched their lead to 10 points as he hit one of their seven three-pointers in the first. However, Seton Hill would outscore Glenville State,13-10, to end the half as the Pioneers took a 47-40 lead into halftime.
GSC shot 44 percent from the floor in the first as they went 15-of-34 from the field and drilled seven three-pointers.
Seton Hill started the second half on a 10-8 run as they cut the Pioneers lead to just five points at 55-50 with 16:42 to play. GSC answered with another three-pointer and then a ferocious dunk by
Davion Johnson extending the Pioneers score by 10, 60-50.
After a lay-up by
Darhius Nunn, the Pioneers would see their score advanced, 66-54, as they took a 12 point lead. With 14:46 on the clock both teams went on a scoring drought as neither team scored for nearly three minutes. Seton Hill ended the drought at the 11:29 mark as Julian Boykins hit two free-throws making the score 66-56.
The Pioneers continued to control the pace of play, but the Griffins chipped away at the lead and cut it to six points, 72-66, with 7:38 to play. Again, GSC would answer as they went on a 10-4 run and went back up 82-70 with under 4:00 left in the contest.
Seton Hill made a late push and cut GSC's lead to just six, 96-90, with just 17 seconds left. Nevertheless, the Pioneers would hit their free-throws down the stretch as they picked up win number one of the season defeating the Griffins, 100-93.
After hitting seven three-pointers in the first half GSC struggled in the second as they hit just two three's and finished the night going 9-for-22 from deep for 40 percent.
The Pioneers scored 13 points off of nine turnovers by the Griffins. Glenville State also scored 18 fast break points while Seton Hill had just four.
Seton Hill had the advantage on the boards out rebounding the Pioneers by four, 40-37. The Griffins also outscored the Pioneers in the paint 46 to 38.
Glenville State had five players in double figures.
Darhius Nunn led the way with a team-high 22 points and a team-high five assists.
Jamal Pollydore scored 21 in his Pioneer debut as he went 5-of-12 from the floor and went a perfect 10-of-10 from the free-throw line.
Davion Johnson poured in 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his first career double-double as a Pioneer.
Phil Bledsoe also posted a double-double in his debut scoring 12 points and pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds.
Ty Robinson chipped in with 12 points and recorded four blocks in the win.
Seton Hill was led by Nathan Davis as he scored a game-high 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double while Trevor Blondin chipped in with 22 points.
Glenville State (1-0) will return to action tomorrow Saturday, November 10th at 2 p.m. when they take on Bowie State on day number two of the PSAC/MEC Conference Challenge.
