FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- Despite trailing for over 29 minutes against Millersville on day two of the 2017 Joe Retton Classic, presented by McDonald's, the JW Ebert Corporation, Fairmont State came away with a 92-89 victory after capitalizing down the stretch – particularly at the foul line.
Fairmont State (2-0) scored 25 points from the free throw line in a game that featured 51 fouls. For the second day in a row, the Falcons trailed by double digits in the opening half, before rallying for the win.
On Saturday, however, FSU was unable to pull away after grabbing the lead for good at the 8:14 mark of the second half following a three by
Caleb Davis. Prior to that point, FSU had led for just 39 seconds through the first 31 minutes of action.
Fairmont State grabbed its largest lead of the day at the 3:14 mark of the second half following a three by
Vonte Montgomery, and again pushed its lead to seven at the 2:02 mark following a pair of free throws by Davis.
However, Millersville quickly pushed the lead back to within five and pulled to within one point with two seconds remaining following a three by Jordan Greene. Montgomery drilled a pair of free throws for FSU with under a second remaining to make the final score 92-89. Millersville failed to get off a desperation shot before the horn sounded.
Fairmont State went 9-of-10 from the free throw line in the final 2:02 of the game to hold on for the win.
Jason Jolly led FSU in the victory with 32 points, going 10-of-17 from the field, 6-of-12 from three and 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
Vonte Montgomery also chipped in 17 points and five rebounds,
Andrew Emrick reached double-figures for the second-consecutive game with 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists, and Davis rounded out four Falcons in double-figures with 11.
Fairmont State shot 49.2 percent from the field (29-of-59), hitting nine three-pointers and 25-of-34 free throw attempts.
Millersville (1-1) was very efficient on the offensive end of the floor, shooting 58 percent in the second half and 54 percent in the game. The Marauders were 6-of-10 from behind the arc. Marcus Adkison scored a team-high 25 points for MU.
Fairmont State will now prepare for a showdown at No. 20 Findlay (OH) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. FSU ran away with a 96-80 victory over Findlay last November in Fairmont.
