The Associated Press

Charleston, W.

Wednesday, January 19, 2000

Charleston, W.Va. – Lionel Armstead scored five of his career-high 25 points during a decisive run and West Virginia cooled off Marshall’s Tamar Slay in time for an 82-77 victory over the Thundering Herd Tuesday night.

West Virginia (9-6) beat intrastate rival Marshall (13-3) for the fourth straight year and the eighth time in nine seasons.

The 6-foot-9 Slay finished with 35 points but scored just four in the final 15 minutes. The Mid-American Conference’s leading scorer was 12-of-28 from the floor, including 9-of-19 3-pointers.

Only one other Marshall player finished in double figures. Joda Burgess had 12 points, including a 3-pointer to cap a 12-6 run for a 60-54 lead with 11:15 remaining.

Marshall later went scoreless over a four-minute stretch and West Virginia went on a 12-0 run to take the lead for good. Armstead’s hanging baseline jumper capped the run for a 69-65 lead with 5:15 remaining.

Freshman Tim Lyles, getting his first substantial playing time since coming off indefinite suspension last week, kept the Mountaineers’ momentum going with all nine of his points in the final four minutes.

His driving layup gave West Virginia its largest lead, 73-66, with 4:06 left.

Marshall wasn’t done, hitting five unanswered points on free throws in a one-minute span to cut the deficit to 78-77 with 27 seconds left. But the Mountaineers sealed the win with a pair of free throws each by Lyles and Armstead.

Chris Moss added 15 points, Marcus Goree had 14 and Calvin Bowman 10 for West Virginia.