— Story by Luke Wiggs
FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Fairmont State scored 25 of the last 35 points to secure an 87-70 victory in their home opener against Davis and Elkins.
With the teams tied at 37 going into the half, the struggling Falcon offense relied on 13 points off of turnovers to stay afloat.
“It was ugly.” said Falcons coach Tim Koenig, “But sometimes ugly is a great way to win.”
Koenig used full court pressure, and multiple zone defenses to force 17 D&E turnovers for the game which Fairmont turned into 19 points in their favor.
“We mixed our defenses up a little bit,” Koenig said, “and rebounded well; that really helped us.”
Fairmont (2-0) also found success on the offensive glass pulling down 28 offensive rebounds accumulating 30 second chance points.
7 of Isaiah Sanders’ 13 rebounds came on the offensive end as he paired that with 17 points.
“At halftime I just needed to recharge myself,” said Sanders, “I knew we needed more boards so I just stuck my head in there and got it.”
Senior guard Cole Vonhandorf scored 21 points, tied for the game high, to lead the Falcons in scoring for the second time in as many games.
“On the court, off the court he’s been great,” said Koenig. “He’s a great guy to follow.”
Sanders and VonHandorf were two of five Falcon players in double figures along with Dale Bonner with 17, Przemyslaw Golek with 15, and Seth Younkin with 10.
Shooting woes were the story throught the game for Davis and Elkins (1-1) as the Senators shot 35% from the field and 17% from 3-point range. They also lost the rebound margin to Fairmont 66-47.
Gyasi Powell (21) and Marcus Flemming (19) were the leading scorers for the Senators in the loss. Fleming added 13 rebounds in the contest has now recorded a double-double in both games this season.
Fairmont remain at home to take on reigning conference champion West Liberty on Wednesday.
Davis and Elkins look to rebound on the road Wednesday at Glenville State.