The Virginia State Trojans are moving on to the second Division II Men’s Basketball Tournament round following an 80-64 opening-round win over West Chester.
Jared White set the pace for the Trojans, scoring a team-high 20 points, with four of his five shots from the field coming from three-point range.
The Trojans are the first HBCU team in this year’s Division II tournament to win their opening-round contest (later joined by Fayetteville State’s men).
Jacob Cooper and Clint Wright Jr. scored 12 points, hitting three three-pointers. Kendall Bynum had 10 points and five rebounds, while Dajour Rucker added eight and eight rebounds.
With the game tied 15-15 with 8:40 remaining in the first half, the Trojans turned the game completely in their favor, going on a 13-0 run over the next three minutes.
West Chester could not recover as they would trail by double figures for the remainder of the contest, peaking with a 21-point deficit in the final three minutes.
Virginia State continues its success in the opening round of the Division II tournament. They have won in the first round in their last four NCAA tournament appearances since 2016.
However, each year they won in the opening round, they were eliminated in the second round.
The Trojans will have their chance to break that streak when they face the two-seed Gannon tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. ET.
