INSTITUTE, West Virginia- After the Christmas break hiatus, the Salem Tigers men's basketball team looked to start the New Year off strong. The Tigers were back in action on Wednesday evening as they traveled down snowy I-79 for a match up against the West Virginia State Yellow Jackets. Salem looked to pull off the big road victory, but unfortunately the Yellow Jackets would get a first half lead then never look back. West Virginia State ended up defeating Salem by a score of 82-71.

In the first half, the Tigers jumped out to a slight 16-15 lead after a triple from Jalen Barnes at the 14-minute mark. The Yellow Jackets would go on a 14-5 run over the next 4 minutes of play. With 10 minutes remaining in the half, the Jackets held a 29-21 lead. Salem needed some consistent play on the offensive end to cut the lead down before the end of the half. Unfortunately, the Tigers were unable to do so, and the Yellow Jackets had a commanding 20-point lead at the intermission. 

In the second half, the Tigers desperately needed to start out good if they wanted a chance to get back in this one. The Jackets were able to push their lead even further being up 57-33 with 16-minutes left in play. The Jackets were able to still maintain a big 20-point lead with 10 minutes left. However, the Tigers would go on a run with back-to-back triples from Jack Garrison IV and Jalen Barnes around the 9-minute mark. Salem was able to cut the lead down to 12 with just under 8 minutes left. Unfortunately, the Jackets were able to maintain a double digit lead the rest of the way despite the Tigers late push. West Virginia State ended up defeating Salem by a score of 82-71. 

In the stats sheet, Daquan Coleman led the way for the Tigers with 15 points and 7 boards. Kevin Constant added 14 points and Jalen Barnes with 13 points to round out the double-digit scorers.

Despite the loss, the Tigers will look to regroup and prepare for their next match up on Saturday as they return home. Salem will go up against the University of Charleston on Saturday, January 11^th at 4 PM.