BUCKHANNON, WV - A cold-shooting first half for Salem International, coupled with a hot-shooting performance from West Virginia Wesleyan College led the Bobcats to a 77-64 victory against the Tigers on Wednesday night (Nov. 23) in NCAA Division II men's collegiate basketball.

The Tigers (0-3) will enjoy a Thanksgiving feast on Thursday (Nov. 24) before hitting the road to participate in the St. Joseph's Tournament in Rensselaer, Indiana on November 25-26. SIU returns home on Tuesday, November 29 to host Adelphi at 4 pm in the T. Edward Davis Gymnasium.

The Bobcats (2-3) would drain 52 percent of their shots in the first half to open up a 34-20 lead over the Tigers. Wesleyan shot 14-for-27 from the floor and 3-for-7 from three-point range, while SIU went 9-for-23 (39 percent) from the floor and 0-for-8 from behind the arc.

Wesleyan's Luke Layhew led all scorers in the first half with 11 points in 12 minutes of action. Layhew went 5-for-5 from the floor, while teammate Mo Berchie scored nine points (4-for-5) with a team-high six rebounds and five assists.

Senior Dominique Robinson paced the Tigers offense in the first half with six points, while freshman Jarius Farrow was 2-for-4 from the floor with five points and two assists.

The scoring would pickup in the second half as both teams topped the 40-point mark. SIU would shoot 63 percent from the floor and knock-down 57 percent of its three-point attempts. The Bobcats would match the Tigers though, shooting 54 percent from the floor and sinking all 10 of their free throw opportunities.

After getting into foul trouble in the first half of play, senior Victor Blakey scored all 14 of his points on the night in 18 minutes for the Tigers. Blakey went 4-for-6 from the floor and 3-for-5 from downtown with four assists for SIU. Senior Tavin Askew scored seven of his nine points in the second stanza for the Tigers, while junior Saquan Epps rebounded from a tough opening-half to score six points (3-for-4) for SIU.

Despite out-scoring Wesleyan 44-43 down-the-stretch, the Tigers would come-up just short against the Bobcats 77-64. After trailing by 22 points (49-27) with just over 15 minutes left to play, the Tigers would trim the deficit to 10 points on two separate occasions. Blakey would hit the games final bucket as his three with 15 seconds remaining cut the final gap to 13 points.

All five Wesleyan starters would finish the night with double-digit scoring efforts. Layhew paced the Bobcats offense with a game-high 19 points on 9-for-12 shooting, while Berchie finished with 17 points and seven made free throws. Fred Brondsted hit a game-high four three's and went 6-for-12 from the floor to finish with 16 points. Kevin Kangni dropped 13 points for the Bobcats and Clay Todd finished with 10 points.