Shanna Rose | WV Sports Chat
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – Miles Sadler scored 16 points and had nine assists as West Virginia opened the season with a 91-46 win over Niagara on Monday at the Hope Coliseum.
Six Mountaineers (1-0) finished in double digits. Brenen Lorient had 13 points, Martin Somerville added 12 points while Javan Buchanan and Finley Bizjack both had 11. Mo Sylla finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Purple Eagles (0-1) controlled the early tempo and took a 16-6 lead on a 3-pointer from Brian Angeletti with 14:25 remaining in the first half.
WVU then used a 21-0 run, capped by a 3 from Lorient to take a 27-16 lead.
“Seven of our first eight shots were from the perimeter – some of them were good and some of them were kind of like after-thought shots, but I really thought that next group really came in and changed the energy,” Mountaineer head coach Ross Hodge said.
WVU controlled the flow the rest of the half and led 43-30 at the break.
Back-to-back 3s from Somerville started a 13-0 run in the second, pushing the Mountaineers’ advantage to 65-39.
Amadou Seini’s jumper with 2:01 remaining gave WVU its largest lead of the night at 45 points.
Despite a slow start offensively, the Mountaineers shot 52 percent from the floor and 43 percent from beyond the arc. Niagara shot 42 percent from the field and made 8-of-20 from long range.
WVU outrebounded the Purple Eagles 36-24 and received 36 points from its bench. The Mountaineers forced 24 turnovers and had 13 steals.
All 13 players dressed and available for tonight’s game saw action and nine got into the scoring column. Joson Sanon finished just shy of double figures with nine points.
“I think this is going to be a strength-in-numbers type of team,” Hodge said. “We have a lot of different guys who can help us in a lot of different ways.”
Logan Woods led Niagara with 12 points.
WVU remains at home on Friday against Stetson. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.
Photo Credit: WVU Athletics
