BUCKHANNON, West Virginia - After Salem was unable to get a victory in their last road outing against local rivals Glenville State, the Tigers were looking to get back on track with another road rivalry game on the docket for Wednesday evening. This time, it was the Bobcats of West Virginia Wesleyan, and the Tigers will be enjoying the roughly 45 minute drive back to Salem as they pulled away from Upshur County with a 80-72 win.
To open the contest, Salem immediately controlled the paint with Ashraf Tchadouwa scoring the first 7 points of the game. The Bobcats answered right back, but Salem was able to fend off the advances thanks to some early hot shooting from Jack Garrison IV. West Virginia Wesleyan kept the pressure on the Tigers the rest of the half, and even took control of the contest in the waning seconds of the period. The Bobcats held that lead as both teams entered the locker rooms with the scoreboard reading 39-38 favoring West Virginia Wesleyan.
In the second half, Salem had to kick things into high gear if they were going to take control of the game back from the Bobcats. Basketball is a team game, and the Tigers exhibited that well as a wide array of Tigers contributed key buckets to take control of the game in the second half, such as Khemanni Davis, Ian Hardy, and Kapone Barley. However, despite building a solid lead down the stretch, the Bobcats continued to keep this close for the Tigers. Fortunately for the Tigers, Salem was able to seal the victory in the final moments of the game with some key fouline shooting and offensive play from Brandon Francois. From there, the game concluded with a 80-72 scoreline favoring the Tigers.
Salem has quite a bit to be excited about in this rivalry game win. The Tigers were led by Jack Garrison IV, who lead Salem with 22 points. Just behind him was Ashraf Tchadouwa who chipped in 20 points and 9 rebounds, just short of a double-double. Ian Hardy rounded out the Tigers in double figures with 14 points. Khemanni Davis finished 9 points for the Tigers as well.
Energized by this rivalry game win, Salem should be raring to go for their next contest. They play host to the Senators of Davis & Elkins College at home on Saturday, December 9th at 4 PM in T. Edward Davis Gymnasium.
