Box Score Fairmont, WV – The University of Charleston Men come up just a bit short in their attempt at revenge from an earlier loss to Fairmont State, falling 83-81 at a jam packed Joe Retton Arena.
 
Both teams shot well early on hitting on over 50% of their attempts with UC knocking down their first five attempts from deep, but were unable to pull away from the Falcons who matched UC shot for shot.
 
Charleston (13-5, 9-5) held a five point lead, 33-28, with six minutes to go after a Corey Jackson (Louisville, KY) jumper in the lane only to be answered by another Falcon triple which sparked 14-2 run by the Falcons to grab a seven point lead late in the half, 42-35.  Fairmont ended the half with a buzzer beating three to take the lead into the locker room 47-40.
 
Isaiah Hill led the Falcons in scoring with 18 points going into the break, hitting on six of his nine attempts including three from long distance.  Charleston shot well themselves going eight for twelve from deep with Terrell Lipkins (Canton, Ohio) and Evan Faulkner (Sandyhook, Ky.) knocking down three each.
 
Coming out of the locker room the Golden Eagles couldn’t cut into the lead and aren’t getting any help from the officials who miss calls on multiple possessions as the lead swelled to 11 with 12 minutes to go after a couple of made free throws by Fairmont State. 
 
The Falcons kept their double digit lead, 66-56, going into a timeout at the 9 minute mark but out of the break Charleston hit back to back 3’s by Lipkins and Faulkner that cut the lead down to four,  66-62, with seven minutes to go, but Chase Morgan answered with a three of his own. 
 
With 3:26 left in the game UC once again found themselves down by double digits 75-65, but out of a timeout Faulkner hit a driving layup and drew a foul to convert a three-point play. Now down by seven Lipkins drove and hit a hanging jumper and drew a foul to get the deficit to four points 77-73 with two minutes to go. Faulkner got a steal on the next Falcon possession and converted another layup and fou shotl to make it a 1 point game with 1:49 to play, 77-76. 
 
Malik Stith refused to let the game slip away from the Falcons as he hit on back to back possessions to extend the lead to five, 81-76, with only 19 seconds left to go. Charleston was able to hit a late three but ultimately fall again to Fairmont, 83-81.  Fairmont fans stormed the court as the buzzer sounded indicating that this was a game they felt was a monumental upset victory. 
 
The Golden Eagles were led by Lipkins who finished the game with 29 points in 40 minutes of action.  UC also got big contributions from Faulkner who went for 22 points including five made 3-point attempts and Quincy Washington (Florence, SC) who chipped in 13 points and brought a ton of energy to the court.
 
The Falcons (14-4, 12-2 WVIAC) got solid games from Hill who lead the Falcons in scoring with 20 points and Chase Morgan who came off the bench to score 18 point and connect on all four of his attempts from beyond the arc.
 
Charleston will return to action Saturday as they hit the road to take on Ohio Valley University.