MORGANTOWN — If it seemed like RaeQuan Battle was in a hurry Saturday, well, that’s because he was.
The WVU senior forward literally ran right out of the Coliseum following the Mountaineers 91-81 victory against Toledo inside the Coliseum, in an attempt to catch a 5:40 p.m. flight out of Pittsburgh to get back home for Christmas.
Considering the game ended a few minutes after 3 p.m., the Steelers were playing a home game in Pittsburgh and with general holiday traffic, if Battle was able to make that flight, then maybe there’s nothing he can’t do.
On the basketball court, it seems like it’s exactly that for the senior forward.
In just his second game of the season, Battle scored 29 points, 22 coming in the first half in which he dazzled a crowd of 10,693 with steals and fast breaks, 3-pointers from 27-feet away and one drive to the basket in which he switched hands in midair.
“He had 22 at half and I didn’t realize that,” said WVU point Kerr Kriisa, who added a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists. “He’s a silent killer. He took only 15 shots to almost get 30, that’s pretty impressive.”
More impressive is the timetable behind Battle’s play. He was denied a waiver from the NCAA for his eligibility this season, forcing him to miss the first nine games of the season.
Once a federal lawsuit forced the NCAA’s hand and all athletes sitting out due to transfer rules were cleared to play, Battle then missed one game with the flu.
Battle has missed, basically, two months of the season, yet in his return has played like he’s been here all along.
Both games have seen Battle, a transfer from Montana State, finish with 29 points, while shooting 49% from the field.
In 58 minutes, he’s turned the ball over just twice and he’s already been to the free-throw line 23 times. He added four steals against the Rockets (6-6).
Battle’s play reminded Kriisa of a prior performance last season.
“At Arizona, we played Montana State and he had (17) against us,” Kriisa said. “We had one of our best guards, Pelle Larsson guarding him and he still had 17. If somebody gets that on Pelle, that’s solid points.”
The victory ended a two-game losing skid for the Mountaineers (5-7), who have a week off before facing Ohio State in Cleveland in what will be WVU’s final chance before Big 12 play to make any kind of statement of who they are.
As for Saturday, WVU rode Battle’s furious play early to take a 25-7 lead.
The Mountaineers then nearly blew all of that cushion, as Toledo made it a game with eight minutes remaining when Andre Lorentsson nailed a 3-pointer to cut it to 66-64.
It was a team effort to seal the win. Kriisa nailed a three and Josiah Harris got going with tip in, a baseline drive and then a thunderous dunk off a missed shot.
Akok Akok also added a dunk off an offensive rebound and Noah Farrakhan added six of his 12 points over the final four minutes.
“Big credit to Akok Akok there, especially in the second half, really suring up some of those rebounding issues we were having,” WVU head coach Josh Eilert said. “It was a good win for us.”
Quinn Slazinski added 14 points and Akok nearly missed out on a double-double of his own with nine points and 12 rebounds.
