Baker, Baptiste Lead Men's Basketball to Stunning Upset of #7 West Liberty

FROSTBURG, Md. – Junior Jaden Baker and senior Koby Baptiste combined to score 57 points in leading the Frostburg State Men's Basketball team to a 102-100 home upset over No. 7 West Liberty on Wednesday night.
 
 In FSU's first home contest of the new year, Baptiste and Baker combined to score the first four points of the game, while junior Chase Whippen tacked on a layup on the latter's steal for an early 6-0 advantage. The Hilltoppers were able to find their offense after a couple early turnovers, but the Baker-Whippen connection led to another pair of buckets to maintain a five-point lead. WLU worked their way back from behind the arc, fending off a Whippen trey and Bapitste lay-in with a trio of threes to force a 16-16 tie.
 
Baptiste muscled his way into the paint for an and-one, then graduate Eric Sondberg connected from distance to hold a narrow lead, but West Liberty quickly got a pair of easy baskets following a Bobcat turnover to go up 24-22. Freshman Trey Simmons provided a spark off the bench with a driving bucket, then Baker and Baptiste followed up with six straight points to lead by three inside the final 10 minutes.
 
The sides proceeded to trade scores back-and-forth until a 9-2 Hilltopper run put the visitors ahead by seven, but Frostburg fought back through a Baker jumper, senior JayShaun Freeman swiping the ball and hitting a three, then Sondberg getting a scoop-and-score to quickly even things back up 41-41. After back-to-back WLU layups, FSU didn't allow another score for the final four minutes of the half, facing a four-point deficit. Freeman got the momentum going with a contested two, then Sondberg hit back-to-back triples all in the ensuing 60 seconds, then Baptiste bullied in for another bucket and got a tip-in make as the buzzer sounded to end the half up 54-45.
 
Coming out of the break, sophomore Vilius Slanina came up with a steal with Baptiste finishing at the other end to go up by double-digits, but within three minutes, West Liberty had turned their nine-point deficit into a 63-60 lead following two straight makes from deep. Slanina helped stem the tide by driving through the lane, then redshirt junior Justin Roseme fed freshman Christopher Meakin for an old-fashioned three-point play and a 65-65 tie.
 
Not wanting to give away any momentum, each team battled back-and-forth, neither leading by more than three up to a 75-75 score. Baker and Baptiste again led by example, the former getting a steal and score and the former going coast-to-coast on another tough lay-in, then going perfect at the line to lead by four. WLU still rolled with the punches, scoring an and-one and turning a giveaway into and easy basket, regaining a one-point lead with nine minutes on the clock.
 
Once more, the sides matched each other blow for blow until Baker had a pair of heat check threes either side of dishing to Freeman on an easy score, surging ahead 95-88. Out of an effective Hilltopper timeout, a triple followed by a steal and trip to the line brought them back within three inside the final five. After a West Liberty miss, Baptiste nabbed the board and fed a quick outlet to Baker to finish home, then another pair of efforts fell short at the rim, allowing Roseme to earn a trip to the line, restoring the seven-point lead.
 
Over the next minute, WLU proved their mettle, nailing from downtown then forcing another turnover into a layup plus the foul to pull within 99-98 with two minutes to go. Baptiste was fouled but could only go one-for-two at the charity stripe, then some frantic play from both sides led to four consecutive Hilltopper shots, but none went in, as Baptiste and Whippen came up with a pair of big defensive stops, the former swatting away a layup out of bounds and the latter getting a steal off the inbounds to give FSU the ball back with seven seconds on the clock. Roseme was fouled and kept his nerve, establishing a four-point lead and withstanding a last-second West Liberty layup for the 102-100 final.
 
The victory marked the first-ever for Frostburg against WLU on their 11^th try and is the program's first win over a ranked opponent since defeating then-No. 24 West Virginia State in January of 2023. FSU set season-best marks in total points scored, field goal percentage (52.1), assists (17), and steals (15).
 
Baker came a rebound shy of securing a triple-double, putting up a 32-10-9 stat line to go with four steals. Baptiste added a monster double-double on 25 points and 15 points, including eight on the offensive end, while Sondberg (11) and Freeman (10) each joined in double figures.
 
With the win, Frostburg improves to 5-8 on the year, while West Liberty drops to 5-8. The Bobcats return to action on Saturday, January 11 for a 4 p.m. road trip to Wheeling. Information and updates will be posted to frostburgsports.com.