West Virginia Holds Off Bellarmine

Morgantown, WV - The West Virginia Mountaineers (3-3) grabbed their third win of the season with a 62-58 win over the Bellarmine Knights (3-4) Sunday evening. Four Mountaineers hit double figures on the day. Center Jesse Edwards led the group with 17 points and 14 rebounds, while Quinn Slazinski had 16 points, Kobe Johnson ended with 14 and freshman Ofri Naveah produced a career-high 10 points. 

West Virginia trailed 12-10 before a personal foul and a pair of technical fouls on the Bellarmine bench sparked a 9-0 Mountaineer run to take a 19-12 advantge, the largest WVU lead of the first half. 

Bellarmine cut the Mountaineer lead to one before Quinn Slazinski buried a three to extend the lead back to four. Then, Knights guard Billy Smith responded with a three get hit a three to cut the deficit back to one, but West Virginia forward Ofri Naveh answered with a triple for a 29-25 WVU lead with just over five minutes remaining in the half. 

West Virginia held a 36-30 at halftime. West Virginia guard Kobe Johnson and Bellarmine guard Peter Suder led all scorers with 11 points apiece, and Mountaineer forward Quinn Slazinski was not far behind with 10 points. 

The Mountaineers were 4-14 from the field to begin the second half and five second chance points by Bellarmine allowed the Knights to take a 45-44 lead following a Garrett Tipton three with 11:24 left to play in the game. 

Jesse Edwards hit four consecutive free throws as part of a 6-0 WVU run to reclaim the lead 50-45.

Again, Bellarmine cut the WVU lead to one, but a jumper by Kobe Johnson, Naveah three and bucket by Edwards gave the Mountaineers a 7-1 run and a 58-51 lead with two minutes remaining in the game. 

West Virginia held a two-possession lead in the final minutes for a 62-58 victory.

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