FROSTBURG, Md. – Behind a double-double by Paul Reynolds, Wesley College head coach Jerry Kobasa earned his 100th career win as the Wolverines defeated Frostburg State, 75-68, Monday night in Capital Athletic Conference action. Wesley moves to 4-8 on the season and 2-1 in the CAC while the Bobcats fall to 6-7 overall with a 3-2 mark in conference play.
Now in his seventh season as the program's head coach, Kobasa has rebuilt the program at his alma mater highlighted by a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and the school's three winningest seasons.
Reynolds, who became the 11th Wolverine in school history to record 1,000 career points in Wesley's last game, scored 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting and also grabbed a game-high ten rebounds. The junior from Smyrna, Del., also distributed the ball well with a team-high three assists and plucked a pair of steals.
The Wolverines led almost all game with the exception coming at the 15:33 mark in the first half as the Bobcats took an 8-7 lead. After the jumper by DeSean Antoine put FSU on top, Wesley scored the next ten points which was capped off by a pair of jumpers by Darrell Johnson.
Frostburg would draw back even at 28 with 58 seconds left in the first half but Wesley went into the break with a 31-28 lead after Chris Douglas converted on a three-point play the old fashioned way with 12 seconds left.
Both teams remained virtually even until midway through the second half and that is when Reynolds started the Navy & White push to the finish. Tied at 46 after a Bobcat layup with 9:32 remaining in regulation, Reynolds broke the tie after driving to the hoop for a score. He was fouled on the play and made the layup to put the Wolverines up three.
Reynolds would add another bucket after a Johnson free throw to put Wesley up six. The teams would then trade buckets and with the Wolverines up by just four with 6:22 left, Wesley scored the next nine points, highlighted by a slam dunk by Rasheed Carter. After the dunk, Carter tallied another two on a breakaway layup to force a Bobcat timeout.
Reynolds converted on another layup after Frostburg missed a pair of free throws coming out of the timeout, giving Wesley its largest lead of the game at 65-52 with 4:39 remaining. The final score was as close as the Bobcats would get from then on.
The Wolverines shot 50% from the floor on 27-of-54, dominated inside with a 36-16 advantage in the paint and got 22 points off the bench. After Reynolds, Johnson added 14 points and JJ Bryant added 12 points off the bench. Douglas pitched in with nine points while all six of Carter's points came in a key 73 second span capped by his breakaway layup.
Wesley returns to the court Saturday, January 7, when it travels to CAC rival St. Mary's (Md.) for a 4 pm tipoff.