CHARLESTON, WV – The University of Charleston men's basketball team (18-12) battled back from a 23-point deficit to knock off the No. 8 West Liberty Hilltoppers (26-3) in the MEC tournament semifinals.
Just the Basics
SCORE: Charleston 95, West Liberty 93
TEAM RECORDS Charleston (18-12), West Liberty (26-3)
How it Happened
Both teams took nearly three minutes to score in the first period of overtime. Freshman forward, Lamont McManus got the ball rolling for UC with a layup at 2:41 to give Charleston the 88-86 lead. West Liberty immediately followed with a bucket from James Griffin. The score tick-tacked back-and-forth with neither team pulling ahead by more than two points.
With UC down 92-93 and nine seconds to play Austin Howard went 2-2 on the line to give Charleston a one-point lead. West Liberty drove the length of the floor missing their last second opportunity and fouling Shaq Speights on the rebound sending the Eagles to the line with one second on the clock. Sleights went 1-2 from the line sealing UC's 2-point victory.
Dan Monteroso led the Hilltoppers with 29 points and nine rebounds while Freshman Dalton Bolon tallied 23 points scoring 21 of those points in the first half.
The game was tied with 1:40 on the clock when junior Ke'Andre Gibson went 1-2 from the line to bring the score to 83-84. Monteroso gave West Liberty the three-point advantage on the next possession with 40 seconds left in regulation. On UC's last trip down the floor Anderson nailed a three ball from deep to tie the game up at 86 all. Charleston held on for the next 15 seconds to send the game into overtime.
WLU continued to answer every Charleston bucket to maintain at least a two point lead in the final 10 minutes of play. With 7:02 on the clock McManus laid one in to bring the score to 77-79. Two possessions later Anderson came up big with a three pointer to give UC the 80-79 lead with less than four minutes to go. The Golden Eagles defense held the No. 8 Hilltoppers to 37 percent shooting in the second half.
The Golden Eagles came out of the half down 44-52. The Hilltoppers held their biggest lead at the half of 64-49 with 16:01 left to play. The Golden Eagles clawed their way back to a seven point game with a big three by freshman, Seth O'Neal. His bucket would bring the score to 69-62 in favor of the Hilltoppers. WLU did not convert on the other end of the floor and Keir Anderson drained a ball from behind the arc to make it a one possession game.
Down by 23 the Golden Eagles took off on a 17-2 run in the final three minutes of the first half to head into the locker room down 41-52. Led by Dalton Bolon with 21 points the Hilltoppers shot 54 percent in the first half in taking a 38-15 run to lead 50-27 with 3:04 to play.
The Golden Eagles came out strong to start the first half pulling a six-point lead in the opening minutes, but WLU made a quick turnaround tying the game up 12-12 with 14:52 left in the half leading to their 38-15 run for the 23-point advantage in the first.
The Golden Eagles outshot the Hilltoppers 40 percent to 23 percent from three point range in the victory.
UC Game Leaders
Points – Keir Anderson (30)
Rebounds – Lamont McManus (11)
Assists – Seth O'Neal (7)
Blocks – Anton Ivy (2)
Up Next
Charleston will advance to the MEC Championship game to face the Wheeling Jesuit Cardinals. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m.
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