FAIRMONT, W.Va. – Fairmont State dropped 56 second-half points to rally past St. Augustine's for a season-opening 86-63 victory to cap the opening day of the Joe Retton Classic, presented by McDonald's, the JW Ebert Corporation.
In the opening half, Fairmont State found itself facing a 17-4 deficit just seven minutes into the game, following a three by SAU's Kenneth Collins. Fairmont State continued to trail by 12 (23-11) at the 10:05 mark of the first half before a 15-0 run over the next four and a half minutes turned the tide of the game. The 15-0 run was sparked by six points from
Jason Jolly and five from freshman guard Cole VonHandorf.
SAU responded late in the half and eventually went to the locker room with a narrow 33-30 advantage.
But in the second half, Fairmont State shot 57.1 percent from the field (20-of-35) and outscored St. Augustine's 56-30 to run away with the victory – the first in the
Joe Mazzulla's tenure as head coach at Fairmont State.
The Falcons used a balanced offensive attack in the victory, led by 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting from
Andrew Emrick. The Falcons also got 12 points from
Vonte Montgomery, 11 from
R.J. Hutcherson, 10 from
Troy Cantrell and nine apiece from Jolly, VonHandorf and
Caleb Davis. Kenzie Melko also dropped in eight points to go along with a team-high eight bounds.
Quincy January paced St. Augustine's with 21 points and 14 rebounds in the loss.
Fairmont State held a 46-40 advantage on the glass, which included 17 offensive rebounds.
FSU will wrap up play in the Joe Retton Classic on Saturday evening with a 7 p.m. matchup with Millersville. MU picked up a thrilling 107-99 double overtime victory over Notre Dame College on Friday to also begin the year with a 1-0 start.
