Box Score
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Davis and Elkins outshot the University of Charleston men’s basketball team 51 percent to 42 percent, yet a pair of unlikely heroes emerged from the bench for the Golden Eagles to disrupt any thoughts of an upset in first round action of the West Virginia Conference tournament, Tuesday night.
Charleston (15-12) looked to be an early round casualty until Brandon Ross (Chicago, Ill./Lincoln Park) nailed a three-pointer with 1:37 left on the clock in overtime after the Senators (10-17) had just extended their lead to five points (89-84). The shot not only brought the home team within reach with one possession, but it lifted a rowdy Eddie King Gym crowd that got behind the Golden Eagles defensive effort. Philip Outley(West Monroe, La./South Plains College) responded to the energy by picking the pocket of D&E point guard Reggie Cook and coasting to the basket to knot the game.
The game saw the teams trade the lead 10 times, yet the game came down the wire as leading scorer Jon Liggins (Cleveland, Ohio/Cuyahoga CC) hit 1-of-2 free-throws with seven seconds on the clock to expand the Charleston advantage to 92-89. Davis & Elkins managed one final look at the basket for their season on the rebound of the Liggins miss with Ian Pinckney coming up about three inches short with a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Ross combined with Erik Armstrong (Fairfield, Ohio/Fairfield) for sensational double-double efforts, which led to the University of Charleston outscoring D&E 43-9 in points off the bench. Ross poured in a career-high 25 points and 10 rebounds on 9-of-18 shooting including hitting 5-of-6 attempts from behind the arc. Armstrong who entered the game averaging just 1.8 points and less than five minutes per game on the court provided arguable the most impressive effort of the season by exploding for 12 points, four blocks and a career-high 16 rebounds.
The upset bid was driven by the Senators Tim Turner who gave the Golden Eagles fits all night trying to track down his elusive steps all around the court as he managed to drop 36 points, five assists and seven rebounds all while being on the court for the entire contest (45 minutes). Turner hit 13-of-27 shot attempts including 8-of-14 three-point attempts.
Charleston power man in the post John White (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Peter Chanel) fouled out of the contest with 18 seconds remaining in the second half yet lifted his team with inspiration from the bench after netting 16 points and six rebounds in the game. White was deadly to the interior defense of Davis & Elkins as his hard pressing drives put him at the charity stripe multiple times where he finished the evening 10-for-12.
Pinkney, Malik Tinsley and Reggie Cook each ended the night in double figures for the Senators with 13, 12 and 11, respectively.
UC now moves on to its revenge match against Kanawha Valley rival WV State at 3:00 pm on Thursday, March 3 in the quarterfinal round of the WVIAC Tournament at the Charleston Civic Center.
