CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Paul "PJ" Reyes (Taylor, Mich.) corralled the outlet pass and raced across halfcourt, assessing the situation ahead.

The University of Charleston senior had the numbers in his favor - a 3-on-1 fastbreak and a 25-point second-half lead - and decided to let loose.

Reyes, a 6-foot-5 guard from Taylor, Mich., tossed the ball underhanded off the backboard and chased the carom, collecting the ball with his right hand and slamming it over a helpless Fairmont State defender.

"We're going to send it to SportsCenter, get him on top 10 plays," UC's Xavier Humphrey (Wake Forest, N.C.) said after the Golden Eagles routed the Falcons, 91-68, Thursday night at Eddie King Gym.

"I knew he was going to do something crazy and I saw him go around the defender, then he dunked on him. The first thing I thought was ESPN top plays. I started jumping up and down.

"Crazy."  

Reyes' dunk came with 14:10 left and capped a 16-3 second-half run. He had 13 of his game-high 26 points during that 4-minute, 27-second stretch that turned a comfortable 14-point lead into a 63-36 advantage.

Reyes hit three 3-pointers during that span, two of which were sandwiched around an alley-oop on a pass from fellow senior Marcus Knott (Dearborn Heights, Mich.). Reyes' third 3 preceded the punctuating dunk, which came after Knott stole the ball in the corner and pushed it up the sideline to Reyes.

The dunk whipped the crowd and home bench into a frenzy, but one coach remained stoic.  

"I'm not particular fond of it," UC Coach Mark Downey said before recalling something he heard Kentucky Coach John Calipari say recently. "He said that he not only wants his kids to be well-coached and they've got a lot of talent ... but he said 'I want my guys to be having the most fun in the country.'

"It helps when you're winning. We're playing hard and having fun."

The Golden Eagles (20-5, 15-4) have been doing a lot of all of that lately. Including Thursday's West Virginia Conference triumph at home, UC is on an eight-game winning streak.  

Few games during this run have been close, as Charleston has won its past eight games by an average of 24.5 points. Seven of the eight wins have been by double figures and six have been decided by 20 points or more.

"I think tonight, we put 40 minutes together and played as a team," said Reyes, UC's leading scorer. "Xavier, he hit a lot of big shots. We thought it was going to be a dogfight.

"Lately, we've been playing hard, sticking together and fighting for each other."

Humphrey, a 6-6 transfer from Marshall, hit a trio of 3s in the first half to help UC go on early runs of 10-0 and 12-0 to build a 29-9 lead with 10:02 left.

Fairmont State (9-15, 7-13) trimmed it to 10 points at 31-21, but never threatened and trailed by 16 at intermission.

Charleston debuted at No. 3 in the Atlantic Regional rankings this week.

"We're nipping at the top 25, so I hope it happens," Downey said. "These guys deserve it. We're trying to build a program and that's how you build it. You get ranked, you go to the NCAA Tournament."

Fairmont State was led in scoring by senior Steve Custis, who had 23 points but was held scoreless the first 13 minutes of the game until he scored on a breakaway dunk. His backcourt sidekick, Isaac Thornton, added 17 points.

Reyes hit 11-of-19 field goals and 3-of-4 3s in 24 minutes. He said his resounding dunk speaks to the level of his team's confidence in the twilight of the regular season.

"I did the same thing one game but I didn't dunk it," he said. "I wanted to dunk this one on him. We're very confident right now."

Added Humphrey: "P.J. is our spark. When he's on, everybody's on."