MONTGOMERY, West Virginia -- Junior
Ryan Atkins surpassed the 1,000
th career point milestone in WVU Tech's 86-72 victory over Grace College to mark their fifth consecutive win. In a game that featured 17 lead changes and 11 tied scores, the Golden Bears move to 9-4 overall while the Lancers are now 8-7 this season.
Atkins needed 20 points at the beginning of this contest to reach 1,000 career points in just two seasons at Tech and he did just that. The Miami, Florida native catapulted himself over the milestone when he made a three-pointer in the second half for his 20
th, 21
st and 22
nd points in the win.
He finished with a game-high 32 points on 13-for-17 shooting from the foul line and three made from beyond the arc. The junior also pulled down seven rebounds to go with four assists. Atkins has now combined for 105 points in the Gold and Blue's last three games, leading all scorers in all contests.
Fellow classmate
Elisha Boone finished 8-for-14 from the field towards his 18 points while grabbing seven rebounds and posting two steals.
The Golden Bears received nine points off the bench from the perfect three-point shooting effort of junior
Enson Garcia (3-for-3) while senior
Ra'Shaud Kincaid and junior
Kievonn Banks added seven points each. Banks also marked six rebounds and Kincaid dished three assists.
The Lancers, a team from Winona Lake, Indiana, received a team-high 13 points from forward Erik Bowen and ten each from four separate players.
The Golden Bears controlled the boards on both ends of the court, pulling down 20 offensive rebounds compared to their opponent's seven and grabbing 20 defensive rebounds while the Lancers had 12.
Tech also held advantages in points off turnovers (17-10), forced miscues (17-14), second chances points (18-4) and points in the paint (38-34). Grace just outshot Tech from the field, 52.8 percent (28-for-53) compared to 49.2 percent (29-for-59) while Tech showed better numbers at the bonus line, 71.4 percent (20-for-28) compared to 56.3 percent (9-for-16).
The squad returns to action when they travel to Davis & Elkins College for another non-conference match-up Tuesday, January 3.
