Jevon Small poured in 19 points and helped key a decisive run in the second half as West Virginia defeated struggling Mercyhurst 67-46 on Sunday afternoon in Morgantown, W.Va.
West Virginia (9-2) was up by 13 points at the break, but the Lakers trimmed their deficit to eight about five minutes into the second half.
The Mountaineers then reeled off 16 straight points, five by Small, to take control. Mercyhurst went more than eight minutes without a field goal and shot just 22.2 percent from the floor after halftime.
Eduardo Andre added 14 points for the Mountaineers, while Toby Okani scored 13 points and took 12 rebounds. Small chipped in seven assists.
West Virginia led by as many as 28 points in the final minutes and won its fifth straight game. The Mountaineers are perfect in seven home games this season.
Aidan Reichert scored 14 points for the Lakers (6-9), who lost their third consecutive game and fifth in their past six.
The Mountaineers struggled to create separation early on, leading just 21-15 with 8:30 left in the first half despite making nine of their first 17 shots. West Virginia used consecutive baskets from Small, Joseph Yesufu and Andre, the latter at the 5:06 mark, to push the margin to 12 points.
A layup by Andre with 3:32 to play in the half extended the Mountaineers’ lead to 14 points before Mercyhurst clawed back to within 10 on buckets from Christian Gamble and Deshaun Jackson Jr.
Small finished off the half with three free throws after being fouled with 54 seconds left, allowing West Virginia to carry a 35-22 lead to the break.
Small led all scorers with 12 points before halftime as the Mountaineers outshot Mercyhurst 50 percent to 34.6 percent. No Lakers player had more than seven points in the half.
Mercyhurst refused to go away, closing to within 38-30 on a free throw by Mykolaus Ivanauskas with 14:46 remaining. But the Mountaineers responded with their 16-0 burst.
–Field Level Media
