The Trojans went on a late 6-0 run, but missed a three-pointer at the buzzer falling short to Virginia Union in the Richmond Freedom Classic on Sunday, Jan. 15, 63-61 at the Richmond Coliseum. Two Trojans scored in double-figures, Kenny Mitchell (junior/Stone Mountain, GA) scored a game-high 21 points with 7 rebounds and Khalil Tate (sophomore/Washington, DC) followed with 19 points.
The Trojans came out smoking on offense, shooting a dazzling 50% in the opening half making 14 of 28 shots from the field. The Trojans trailed early by seven points to the Panthers, but battled back behind Khalil Tate's hot hand to start the game. Tate hit back to back three-pointers cutting the lead down to two, 13-11 with 14:51 in the first half. Tate made 5 of his first 6 shots to start the game with four coming from behind the three-point arc. Every Trojan fast break opportunity, Tate got open from behind the arc splashing trey after trey finishing the first half with 14 points. VSU's DeVonte' Williams (freshman/Hampton, VA) made a layup and got fouled with 8:07 to play in the first half after a nice drive through the Panther defense. Williams made the free-throw extending the Trojan lead to 5 points, their biggest of the game. Virginia State went into halftime with a one point lead over Virginia Union, 35-34.
After draining 4 of 8 from downtown in the first half, in the second half the Trojans did not have the same luck only connecting on 1 or 5 from deep. The Panther's Calvin Brown hit a jumper with 18:16 in the second half giving Virginia Union a 40-39 lead; VUU went on an 11-1 run for the next 6 minutes. Virginia Union would lead by as many as 13 point in the second half over Virginia State.
The Trojans rallied late with a 6-0 run of their own starting on a strong layup by forward Daniel Awosanya (junior/London, England) with 3:17 to play in the game. Virginia State cut the lead to 63-61 by the one minute mark left in regulation. The Trojans clamped down on defense and stopped the Panthers offense with 32 ticks to play. VSU's freshman point guard, Williams made a drive inside the paint with 15 seconds to play but got his shot blocked by the Panthers' Juan Wilson. VSU's Tate gathered the offensive board and called a Trojan timeout with 10 seconds left to play. As the ball was inbounded, Williams found Kenny Mitchell with a wide open three-pointer and as time expires, but Mitchell's shot missed off the side of the rims the clock set to all zeros with Virginia Union escaping with a 63-61 win.
This win for Virginia Union was their 23rd straight victory over Virginia State's men's basketball team in a streak that reaches back to January 2002.
The Trojans made 3 of 8 free throws in the first half and also shot 50% from three-point land. The Trojans held the Panthers to 42% shooting from the field, but allowed VUU to shoot 54% from behind the arc. During the second half, the Trojans continued their hot shooting from the field making 11 of 21 attempts. Virginia State left points at the charity strike, finishing 6 of 14 from the line as Virginia Union went 13-17.
Virginia State dominated the post scoring 38 of their 61 points in the paint. Forward Kenny Mitchell could not be stopped as he imposed his will down on the block shooting 56% from the field. He scored a game-high 21 points and snagged 7 rebounds and dished out 3 assists. On the defensive end he came up with two big time late game blocks to help the Trojans late run. Khalil Tate finished the game 7 of 9 from the field with five of his buckets falling from behind the arc. Tate also grabbed 5 boards (3 offensive) and added 2 assists.
Virginia State dropped to 2-14, 1-5 in conference play. The Trojans look to rebound on Thursday, Jan. 19th as they travel to Glenville, WV to play Glenville State at 7:30 p.m.
