CHARLESTON, W.Va. – University of Charleston men's basketball rallied from an 18-point second half deficit to defeat the No. 9 ranked Wheeling Jesuit University Cardinals, 85-77, Saturday afternoon at the H. Bernard Wehlre Sr. Athletic Arena.
 
The Cardinals led for over 30 minutes of Saturday's game and held a 56-38 advantage over the Golden Eagles with 15:55 left on the second half clock before Elliott Cole and company turned the game around to shock the nationally ranked Cardinals.  Cole would score 12 of his 39  points in a two-minute span to trim the Cardinal lead to six, 63-57, at the midpoint of the second half.  Three minutes later Charleston took its first lead of the contest on a Jonathan Joseph three-point bank shot sending the Golden Eagle crowd into a frenzy. 
 
UC pushed the lead out to six, 73-67, at the final media timeout of the game only to see the Cardinals claw their way back to tie the game at 77-77 on a Pat Moseh layup with 59 seconds to play.  It would be all Golden Eagles in final minute, scoring eight straight aided by the loud UC crowd that forced a pair of missed free throws from Wheeling's Preston Boswell that could have tied the game but instead forced the No. 9 Cardinals to foul down the stretch which Charleston sank six consecutive free throws to ice the game. 
 
As the clock expired, the Golden Eagle team celebrated with the UC faithful at center court as the stands emptied with the scoreboard showing an 85-77 win for the University of Charleston.
 
Cole led all scorers with 39 points on 13-of-16 shooting including seven three-pointers.  Twenty-three of his 39 came halftime.  Keir Anderson had a strong second half, scoring 12 in the half on the way to 15 points off the UC bench.  Justin Coleman turned in another double-double, scoring 11 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.
 
UC gets back in action Wednesday evening to host Urbana University, tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Wehrle Sr. Athletic Arena.