PHILIPPI, W.Va. – The Fairmont State men's basketball team (19-5, 14-4 Mountain East Conference) earned a physical battle at Alderson Broaddus (8-15, 6-12 MEC) on Saturday (Feb. 11) at Rex Pyles Arena in Philippi, W.Va. The Fighting Falcons trailed by three points at intermission and came back for their 14^th MEC victory.
 
"This is a great win," remarked head coach Tim Koenig. "Anytime you can win a game on the road in this league is huge."
 
The Falcons made clutch shots down the stretch to seal the win. George Mangas led the way with 23 points on 10-for-13 shooting and was two rebounds shy of a double-double. He has eclipsed the 20-point mark four times in his last eight games. Isaiah Sanders finished with 19 points and Zyon Dobbs cashed in on four three-pointers to total 18 points and dished out a game-high eight assists. David Jolinder tracked down six rebounds and poured in 10 points to round out the double-digit Fairmont State scorers.

Fairmont State outrebounded Alderson Broaddus 30-25 with the Falcons securing six boards on the offensive glass. Fairmont State shot 58.1% from the field and sank 11 three-pointers on 23 attempts.
 
"I thought we rebounded a lot better," said Koenig. "They have good size and are a good team on the boards. We stayed calm on the offensive end and kept running our stuff"
 
With the score even at 12, the Falcons scored nine unanswered points. Jolinder capped off the early run with a triple that was assisted by Fonz Hale. AB held the Falcons scoreless for over two minutes and trimmed the Fairmont State lead to three points. Briggs Parris converted a jumper that put the falcons ahead by eight points with 8:15 left in the first half. The home team tallied seven consecutive points and held a four-point lead at the 3:04 mark. The Battlers led by as many as five points in the closing minutes of the first half and held a three-point lead at the break.
 
After Dobbs sank a triple to tie the score early in the first half, the Battlers ripped off five-straight points and controlled the lead. A Seth Younkin jump shot, a pair of free throws by Sanders and a layup by Tariq Woody tied the game at 56. Dobbs gave the Falcons their first lead of the second half with a triple with 14:19 on the clock. AB regained the lead after scoring three-pointers on consecutive possessions. The lead was exchanged seven times in the second half. With the score tied at 74 with less than eight minutes remaining, Dobbs and Sanders hit back-to-back threes. After two AB free throws, Younkin completed a three-point play to put Fairmont State ahead by seven. Mangas connected on a jump shot that gave the Falcons a nine-point advantage with 4:35 remaining. Younkin kicked out a pass to Sanders for a jump shot that gave the Falcons their largest lead of the game, an 11-point cushion. A Mangas triple and breakaway layup sealed the win for Fairmont State, 94-83.

The Fairmont State men's basketball team will begin the penultimate week of the regular season on Wednesday (Feb. 15) by hosting Wheeling at 7:30 p.m. inside Joe Retton Arena.