Petersburg, VA – Both Bluefield State University Basketball Teams faced off against Virginia State University on Wednesday. Women's basketball fell 61-54 with the men's team falling 82-56.
In the first matchup of the night, Jayla Sample led all scorers with 17 points with Katrina Davis adding 11. Shalance Montoya led all players with eight rebounds on the night.
The Trojans opened play with the first seven points to take the early lead. The Big Blue answered with a layup from Davis and five points from Sample to even the score. The Trojans would end the first quarter with a six-point run to take the 16-9 lead into the second. The Trojans built a lead of 14 with six minutes left in the second, but back-to-back buckets from Davis and Azariah Binford and a three-point play from Sample cut the Trojan lead to seven. The Trojans outscored the Big Blue 8-5 to take the 31-21 lead into the half.
The Big Blue pulled within three midway through the third quarter after a three from Alexyss Newman. With 15 seconds left in the quarter, a three from Binford cut the Trojan's lead to seven, but a buzzer bucket by the Trojans took them into the final quarter with a 45-36 advantage. Midway through the fourth, the Trojans held the 11-point lead, but the Big Blue scored ten unanswered points to pull within one with 24 seconds left to play. Late fouls sent the Trojans to the line to escape with the 61-54 victory over the Big Blue.
Jordan Hinds led the Big Blue with 11 points with Ja'Mere Redus and Nduka Ogwu coming away with ten each in their 82-56 loss against Virginia State.
The Trojan's took the early lead after scoring the first ten points of the matchup. With five minutes left to go, the Big Blue were held to 14 while the Trojans scored 33. The Big Blue held the Trojans to just three points in the last five minutes while cutting the lead to 14 going into the half.
After trading buckets to open the second, the Trojans would outscore the Big Blue 19-5 to extend their lead 56-29. The Trojans had their largest lead of the night of 37 at the 4:30 mark. The Big Blue cut the deficit to 26, but couldn't overcome the Trojans, 82-56.
The Big Blue will host Virginia Union on Saturday, January 27th. Women's basketball will tipoff at 2 p.m. with the men's to follow.
