Box Score
ATHENS, W.Va. - PJ Reyes put 23 points in the scorebook, while Eladio Espinosa ruled the lane for a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds as the University of Charleston men's basketball team took a 69-64 win at Concord, Wednesday night.
Reyes started the game on fire with back-to-back three-pointers for a quick 6-0 advantage, but that was the extent of the high shooting marks for the 25th ranked Golden Eagles in the opening half. UC (22-5, 17-4) hit just 8-of-30 shots in the first half, while Concord (14-11, 11-10) managed 40 percent shooting to run out to a 35-26 advantage at the midway point.
In the second stanza Charleston went back to its strength inside the paint attacking a physically smaller Mountain Lion lineup.
Eladio Espinosa (Norlina, N.C.) benefited from the inside attack with 12 points and seven rebounds in the final 20 minutes, while Reyes picked up where he left off in the first half with 11 points. Espinosa ended the the evening with his seventh double-double of the season at 16 points and 12 rebounds.
The intense offensive pace to open the second half seemingly took Concord by surprise as UC destroyed the deficit using just 2:47 off the clock before creating a deadlock at 41-41.
The two teams set in for the remainder of the slugfest with both teams extending leads by as much as five points, yet the scoreboard eventually returned to a tie ballgame on five occasions. UC finally broke free with 3:12 left to play on a layup by Reyes, before Espinosa flushed CU's hopes with a gym rattling dunk to give the Golden Eagles a 67-64 lead they wouldn't look back from.
Marcus Knott (Dearborn Heights, Mich.) put the game away for the visitors with an acrobatic lay in to set the final score at 69-64.
Evan Faulkner (Sandyhook, Ky.) hit just two shots from behind the arc, but they couldn't have come during any more important moments as he went on to record 11 points and three rebounds in the victory.
UC wraps up their regular-season slate with a trip to Kanawha Valley rival WV State at 4:00 pm on Saturday, Feb. 25. The Golden Eagles will return home for a first round game in the WVIAC Tournament on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 7:30 pm.
