A Bobcats one-point halftime lead melted away against the Salem University Tigers Wednesday in Rockefeller Center, and the West Virginia Wesleyan College men's basketball team fell 80-72 in non-conference action.
 
Still unable to climb into the winning column after its opening day victory over Edinboro University on November 10, the Bobcats matched even with the Tigers through 20 minutes of play. After a sluggish start, Wesleyan drew close in the final six minutes of the first half and went up by one on a three-pointer by the team's season scoring leader Deiker Padrino (145 points) in the final minute.
 
Padrino's 15 points and the game's high point scorer Alex Mirhosseini (23 points) amassed 8-of-17 from outside the three-point line, but it wasn't enough to stop the Salem duo of Jack Garrison IV (22 points) and Ashraf Tchadouwa (20 points) who accounted for more than half of the Tigers' total.
 
Wesleyan will continue to look for its first victory in eight games when it travels to Notre Dame College (Ohio) for a 4 p.m. tip on Saturday, Dec. 9.