ALBANY, GA –
James Barnes led the Fort Valley State University Wildcats (FVSU) (10-11; 7-6) with a double-double as the Wildcats snapped a five-game losing streak in the 69-52 win over Albany State University (ASU) (1-17-1-9)Saturday evening at the West Campus Arena-Albany.
Barnes led all players in scoring and rebounding with 19-points and 14 rebounds while hitting 7-of-9 shots from the field, 5-of-8 free throws, one block and two steals.
Tyler Edwards collected 15-points, five rebounds and hit 2-of-2 foul shots while making six shots from the floor.
Walter Foster added 11-points and eight boards and
Glenn Hollaway grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked four shots.
J. R. Bryant dished out three assists while
Trey Elliott came off the bench with nine points.
The Wildcats outrebounded ASU 58-32, but ASU forced FVSU into 17 turnovers. FVSU outscored ASU 34-14 in the paint, 21-8 off second-chance shots, 8-4 on fast break points, but ASU outscored FVSU 22-18 on players scoring off the bench. The Wildcats hit 39.1% of their shots from the field while holding ASU to 27.6%. FVSU made five three-pointers for 33.3% and hit a season-best 77.8% from the charity stripe. FVSU gained their largest advantage of 25-points in the second half with 9:26 left in the game. ASU's lead came in the first half with two-points at the 17:51 mark.
Edwards' three-pointer gave FVSU a 13-point lead at the 10:56 mark while
Jamaal Garror's jumper increased the lead by 15 (23-8) with 7:31 left until halftime. ASU's Jared Harrington scored on a layup to cut the lead to 6 (25-19) before halftime as the Wildcats would go to intermission up 29-21.
The Wildcats went on a 15-6 run over the eight minute span in the second half to go up by 17 (44-27) with 12:39 left. At the 12:17 mark, Edwards' three-pointer made it 47-27. Elliott's three-pointer increased FVSU's score to 25 (55-30) and their largest lead. The closest ASU would get in the second half was 16-points.
The Wildcats next game is on the road as they travel to Orangeburg, SC to play Claflin University on Saturday, January 27 at 3 p.m.
