Box Score


JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Pitt-Johnstown men’s basketball team has surely seen more of Paul "PJ" Reyes (Taylor, Mich.) this season than they would like to remember after the UC leading scorer netted 26 points in a 79-69 win, Saturday afternoon.

The Mountain Cats have become a favorite target of Reyes’ offensive onslaught as he has booked 59 points in two victories this season.

On an afternoon where Charleston (16-5, 11-4) was outshot from the floor for the game 49 percent to 40 percent a stiff defensive effort came through to preserve the road victory where the Golden Eagles move to 7-3 on the season.

UC overcame the shooting deficit by forcing 20 turnovers, which led to 26 points for the visitors.

Pitt-Johnstown entered the locker room at halftime down seven points (38-31) and the contest didn’t offer any reprieve in the second stanza as the Mountain Cats didn’t get closer than four points for the rest of the afternoon.

Both inside games were on display in the game leading to equal efforts at the foul stripe with the Golden Eagles holding an 84 percent (16-of-19) to 65 percent (13-of-20) advantage. The two teams boasted arguably the top-two post games in the West Virginia Conference, but in the contest Charleston’s Eladio Espinosa (Norlina, N.C.) proved to be an excellent rebounding compliment to Reyes’ scoring. Espinosa battled with a physically larger Patrick Grubbs and came out the winner with 15 rebounds, seven points and three blocked shots. Espinosa’s efforts on the boards assisted in UC holding a 19-to-9 lead in second chance points.

Three-point specialist Evan Faulkner (Sandyhook, Ky.) poured in 13 points and two steals, while key bench contributor Xavier Humphrey (Wake Forest, N.C.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points and four rebounds.

The win moves the University of Charleston into the third slot in the West Virginia Conference standings headed into a Wednesday (Feb. 1) matchup against Ohio Valley. The Fighting Scots will look to slow the hot Golden Eagles at 8:00 pm in Eddie King Gym.