MIDWAY, Ky. -- In a late addition to the schedule, the Midway University men's basketball team returned to the hardwood on Tuesday night when they hosted River States Conference foe, West Virginia Tech in Marshall Gymnasium.
The Golden Bears scored the first five points of the ballgame before building as much as a 15-point lead in the first half. They took a 40-29 edge into the locker room and would add to their lead in the second half on their way to the 81-65 victory.
West Virginia Tech – who improves to 7-4 on the season following the win – finished game shooting 49.2 percent, while they hit 8-of-21 from three-point land. Their defense, meanwhile, held Midway to 36.7 percent overall and 33.3 percent from three where they hit 7-of-21.
Midway got off to a slow start scoring just one point in the opening three minutes allowing WVU Tech to build a 9-1 lead. The lead quickly ballooned to 25-10 following a 10-0 run including two threes from Andreas Jonsson and a pair of dunks from Ashton Parker.
The Eagles – who fell to 3-8 overall following the loss – responded by getting back-to-back triples from Kwon Evans (Louisville, Ky.) and Recardo Travis (Louisville, Ky.) before the duo capped a 10-1 run with back-to-back layups. WVU Tech pushed their lead back to 13 before taking a 40-29 lead at halftime.
Midway spent the early moments of the second half trying to cut into the deficit and get it to single digits. They cut the deficit to 55-47 following a 10-0 run which included seven points from Evans and a trey from Donnie Miller (Newport, Ky.).
After West Virginia Tech pushed their lead back to 64-47 – its largest of the game – following a 9-0 run, the Eagles made one last push cutting it to 10 with just over two minutes remaining, but it was too little too late as WVU Tech held on for the 81-65 victory.
Evans and Miller led the way for the Eagles combining to score 41 of Midway's 65 points. Evans finished the contest with 21 points and seven boards, while Miller chipped in 20 points, six assists and five rebounds. Ridge Hall (New Pekin, Ind.) carded six points and seven rebounds.
The Blue and Gold are set to return to action on Thursday (Jan. 28) when they travel to Circleville, Ohio to take on Ohio Christian University.
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