ETTRICK, VA – Virginia State men's basketball team came out on the losing end of a double overtime defensive battle against ECSU, 64-62. Only 20 total points were scored in the two overtime periods combined. The tough double overtime loss drops the Trojans conference record down to 4-6 on the season.
Francis "BJ" Fitzgerald recorded his first double-double in the season as he posted 16 points with 11 rebounds along with three blocks and two steals.
Terrence Hunter-Whitfield also posted his third double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds on evening.
D'Angelo Lake posted 13 points and six rebounds in his Trojan debut while shooting 5-of-10 from the field. The Trojans forced 17 turnovers and scored 14 points off the turnovers.
How It Happened
- D'Angelo Lake would score his first points as a Trojans off a jumper to put VSU in front, 12-11. Following two good free throws from Terrence Hunter-Whitfield, the Trojans would take the lead, 16-13, with 10:45 in the first half.
- Following a three-pointer from D'Angelo Lake, the Trojans took a five-point lead over the Vikings. VSU took a, 31-27, into the locker room at half time.
- In one half of play, Terrence Hunter-Whitfield (6) and Francis "BJ" Fitzgerald (6) combined for 12 points in the contest. Hunter-Whitfield account for six first half rebounds while Fitzgerald also accounted for six rebounds as well. Lake ended his first half with nine points going 4-of-7 from the field. The Trojans outrebounded the Vikings 22-9 while grabbing nine offensive rebounds.
- Through the first five minutes of the second half of play, the score was knotted at 34 with 15:14 left to go in second half.
- Fitzgerald was the only Trojan to get on the board after the tie as the Vikings held a 43-37 lead with 11:12 left to go in the half.
- After the Vikings went up by eight, the Trojans scored eight unanswered points to knot the score at 45 with 6:15 left to go in the game.
- After the two teams would battle back-and-fourth throughout the remainder of the game, Fitzgerald would hit a layup as time expired to send the contest to overtime with the score tied at 53.
- Fitzgerald scored four of the team's six points in the overtime period. As the Vikings hit two free throws to tie the game 59, ECSU blocked Michael Melvin's shot in the final seconds to force a second overtime.
- The Vikings took their second lead of the second overtime period after hitting a three-pointer with 1:15 left to go. The Vikings would go on to play impeccable defense in the final minute to secure the win, 64-62.
Inside the Box Score
- The Trojans outrebounded the Vikings 22-9
- D'Angelo Lake scored double-digits (13) in his first game as a Trojan
- The Trojans forced nine steals that turned into 14 points
- The game saw five ties and nine lead changes while the largest Trojan lead was just five points
Up Next
The Trojans will head down the road to Richmond for a date with the Panthers of Virginia Union on Saturday, February 5. Tipoff is set for 4:00 p.m
