Box Score
FAIRMONT, W.Va. – Senior guard Brantley Osborne (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy) tossed in a game-high 19 points, but Fairmont State held on for a 74-72 win over Shepherd University in MEC men's basketball action at Fairmont on Saturday.
Osborne connected on 6-of-18 field goals with a 1-of-2 effort from three-point range. He was a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. Osborne added a team-high six rebounds.
Senior forward Kevin Jones (Washington, DC/Bishop O'Connell/IUP) added 17 points, while junior forward Morgan McDonald (Inwood, W. Va./Musselman) had 16.
Junior guard Austin Cunningham (Vincent, Ohio/Ohio Valley) was in double figures with 11 points.
Chase Morgan had 18 points, while Stevie Browning and Brendan Cooper each had 17 to pace the Falcons.
Shepherd had a chance to tie or win with a pair of free throws with 0.1 seconds left in the game. The first attempt and missed and the tip-in attempt off the second missed attempt went awry.
Shepherd shot 51.1 percent (24-47) from the floor with a 57.1 percent (4-7) effort from three-point range. The Rams hit on 20-of-28 free throws (71.4 percent).
Fairmont State shot 42.9 percent (27-36) from the floor with a 7-of-22 effort (31.8 percent) from beyond the arc. The Falcons drained 13-of-20 free throws (65 percent).
Fairmont State had a 36-30 edge on the boards. The Rams forced 15 turnovers and committed 17.
Shepherd falls to 19-9, 14-8 in conference action, while Fairmont State improves to 19-9, 14-8. The sixth-seeded Rams return to action on Tuesday when they host 11th-seeded Concord at 7 p.m.
