MONTGOMERY, W. Va. -- A three-game losing streak came to an end after the Lindsey Wilson College men's basketball team put together an exciting second-half comeback to beat the West Virginia Institute of Technology 68-59 on Thursday at the Neal Baisi Athletic Center.
Junior Chase Spreen led the Blue Raiders with a career-high 25 points and his classmate Justin Archie added a career-high as well with 19 points. Spreen hit 12-of-14 free throws and Archie knocked down 10-of-12 attempts from the stripe.
Joseph Morgan paced the Golden Bears with 12 points and Josh Arnold added 10 points and 11 rebounds as the only player in the game with a double-double.
Blue Raider head coach Paul Peck -- who picked up his 200th win at Lindsey Wilson -- said he was happy with the way his team responded from being down most of the game.
"It was a great, gutty performance by our kids," Peck said. "To get down early like that and keep fighting to get loose balls and rebounds, things started to kick in for our team.
"Chase Spreen, Brandon Clemons and Justin Archie were men tonight. Brandon had some unbelievable plays, he was everywhere."
Lindsey Wilson (16-8, 7-6 MSC) took its first lead of the game with seven minutes left in the second half, then extended the lead to six (60-54) on a layup and two free throws by Archie and two free throws by Clemons to take control in the game's final two minutes.
Leading 60-54, Archie missed a pair of shots from the free-throw line after hitting six in a row, but an offensive foul by West Virginia Tech gave the ball right back to the Blue Raiders. Archie made it to the stripe again, this time hitting both shots to help secure the win for Lindsey Wilson.
After a 9-0 run by West Virginia Tech (11-12, 6-7 MSC) to start the game, Lindsey Wilson finally got on the board with a three by junior Justin Archie nearly five minutes into the contest. The 3-pointer was just Archie's sixth of the season.
The Los Angeles, Calif., native's make from beyond the arc started a mini run for the Blue Raiders that led to another three from junior Chase Spreen to pull Lindsey Wilson within three (11-8). Junior Charles Baker also knocked down a jumper during the run.
The three-point deficit was short lived after Josh Stricker capped a 10-2 Golden Bear run with a basket and West Virginia Tech continued to hold a double-digit lead the majority of the final 10 minutes of the half.
Despite trailing 36-28 at halftime, Lindsey Wilson got an offensive boost from Spreen who snapped out of an offensive funk with 13 first-half points on three 3-pointers and a 4-for-4 showing from the free-throw line.
The first-half shooting percentages were flip flopped between the Blue Raiders and Golden Bears. Lindsey Wilson shot 25.0 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from 3-point range, while West Virginia Tech shot 46.7 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from behind the arc.
Lindsey Wilson also hit all nine of its free throws in the half, while the Golden Bears hit 6-of-9 shots from the stripe.
Still searching for its first lead of the game, Lindsey Wilson climbed within six (44-38) on a fast-break basket by Spreen off a pass from Archie. Spreen made it to the free-throw line on the next possession, hitting one, and then Donald Robinson buried a crushing three to push the Golden Bears back up eight.
With 8:16 left to play in the game, momentum finally swung towards the Blue Raiders after the Golden Bears' Robinson was whistled for a technical foul, allowing Spreen to hit two free throws and Archie to follow with two more after a foul to pull within three (50-47).
Morgan countered with two freebies of his own, but Baker got to the line for two on the next possession, and then tipped back in a Clemons miss, allowing Archie's steal and layup to give the Blue Raiders their first lead at 53-52 with seven minutes to play.
After playing nearly 35 minutes from behind, Lindsey Wilson evened things up at 54 with five minutes to play, setting up a battle to the finish for the important Mid-South Conference win.
Free-throw shooting proved to be the difference down the stretch as the Blue Raiders put together a strong performance from the line to lead by as many as nine points in the game's final minute.
The Blue Raiders shot just 32.1 percent from the field, while West Virginia Tech didn't do much better at 36.7 percent. The Golden Bears did edge Lindsey Wilson on the glass 42-38.
Three-point shooting was a near non factor with neither team shooting higher than 27.0 percent. Lindsey Wilson shot 87.9 percent from the free-throw line (29-of-33), while the Golden Bears made just half of their attempts (10-of-20).
Lindsey Wilson returns to action at 3 p.m. CT at the University of Rio Grande (Ohio) on Saturday.
