Box Score

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The No. 22 ranked University of Charleston men's basketball team punched their ticket to the WVIAC Tournament Championship with a decisive 89-80 victory over Concord, Friday evening in semifinal action at the Charleston Civic Center.

The Golden Eagles (26-5) expanded their winning streak to 14 games with the victory and were led with a ferocious defensive effort that calmed a late comeback attempt by the Mountain Lions (17-12).

Charleston charged off the opening tip hitting 56 percent of their attempts from the floor, while also booking six shots from behind the arc to take a 51-34 lead into the locker room at half.

Concord showed resilence in the second half refusing to be put away by the barrage of shots that UC was dropping through the net. On the glass UC made the most of their opportunities by outrebounding the Mountain Lions 41-33 to accumulate 16 second chance points, while holding a double-digit lead for nearly all of the second half.

In an arena that is usually not a positive experience for jump shooters Evan Faulkner (Sandyhook, Ky.) prevailed with an impressive 7-for-10 performance that included four shots from three point land to record a career-high 20 points.

UC showed its depth with 11 players logging minutes in the game and six players grabbing double-digit scoring lines in the book. A balanaced attack was flashed with Eladio Espinosa (Norlina, N.C.), Brandon Ross (Chicago, Ill.), Paul "PJ" Reyes (Taylor, Mich.) and Xavier Humphrey (Wake Forest, N.C.) all scoring 12 points in the victory.

Marco Richardson (Canton, Ohio) was the sixth player in double figures with a stat line of 11 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Charleston held Concord to 43 percent shooting in the contest, while the Golden Eagles ended the stormy evening at 52 percent.

With the victory the University of Charleston locks itself into the WVIAC Tournament Championship with a 6:00 pm date against No. 4 ranked West Liberty on Saturday, March 3 in the Charleston Civic Center. The conference championship game will be broadcast on ROOT Sports TV, check your local listing channel lineup.

The game will be the first time the University of Charleston has made an appearance in the WVIAC Tournament final since 2003 as the Golden Eagles will be looking for their first conference tournament championship since 2001.