CHARLESTON, W. Va. – The University of Charleston Basketball teams will be back at home for the first time in 2020 on Wednesday evening as both the Men and Women will take on the Bobcats of West Virginia Wesleyan. Tip for Saturday's contest are scheduled for 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. at the Wehrle Innovation Center.
Media Coverage:
Live Stats and video feed will be available for Wednesday's games through the links supplied below:
Men's Basketball Outlook:
The University of Charleston Golden Eagles Men's Basketball team (10-2, 4-2 MEC) began 2020 on the right foot, defeating the Big Blue of Bluefield State on Saturday with a 68-43 win on the road.
Eddie Colbert III notched his second double-double of the season with the victory as the freshman accounted for 18 points, 10 rebounds, while coming up with two steals.
The Golden Eagles took the lead early. Working their way to a 17-8 lead midway through the first half. Charleston shot 51.7 percent led by
Devon Robinson with eight points to end the half with a 36-16 lead over the Blues.
Coming out of the break the Golden Eagles maintained their lead, never looking back. With 9:07 to play, Eddie Colbert went 1-1 from the stripe to put Charleston up by 30. The Golden Eagles would continue to run away with the game, with the final score of 68-43.
Charleston finished the contest shooting 45.3 percent from the field while being led by the pair of Eddie Colbert and Seth O'Neal.
Full recap and box score
here
The Golden Eagles come into the contest with the highest Field Goal Percentage in the MEC (51.4%), good for 9
th in the country, while also leading the conference in rebounding margin (10.0), good for 8
th in Division II.
West Virginia Wesleyan comes into the contest holding a record of 5-7 (4-2 MEC) after winning their most recent matchup with West Virginia University Tech on Sunday by a score of 79-72. Winning five of their last seven contests, the Bobcats came from behind to win in the final minutes using the hot hands of Dusan Vicentic (21 points, 9 rebounds) and Luka Petrovic (19 points, 5 assists, 9-of-9 FT) to defeat WVU Tech. Vicentic has now put up 20 points for the third straight contest and WVWC outscored the opposition 48-18 in the paint while ousting Tech 15-2 on second chance points. The Bobcats have forced nearly 7.5 steals and average just over 16 assists per contest, both good for Top-100 in Division II this year. Vicentic leads the Nick Patella led Bobcats on the offensive side, averaging 15.75 ppg while notching just over eight rebounds per contest.
In their history, the Golden Eagles and the Bobcats have matched up 15 times with Charleston holding a slim 8-7 advantage. The Golden Eagles currently hold a two-game win streak over the Bobcat, winning both of their matchups during the 2018-19 season.
Women's Basketball Outlook:
The University of Charleston Golden Eagles Women's Basketball team (10-2, 5-1 MEC) defeated the Bluefield State by 35 points in their last contest, picking up a 71-36 road victory. With the win, the Golden Eagles remain in a three-way tie for 1
st place in the MEC with Notre Dame College and Concord University, both with 5-1 conference records.
In a game that the Golden Eagles outscored the Big Blue by 23 in the second half, both offenses got out to a slow start in the first quarter. The Golden Eagles never trailed in the contest and eventually held a 13-7 lead at the end of the first. It took nearly the entire second quarter for the Blues to break double digits, as the Golden Eagles held a 27-15 lead heading into the break.
The Golden Eagles went 6-of-17 from the field in the first half. Led by
Anna Hayton with nine points, and
Brooklyn Pannell with eight before the break.
The Golden Eagles held the lead for the second half, never leading by fewer than 14 points.
Full recap and box score
here
The Golden Eagles come into the contest ranking 32
nd in scoring offense, averaging 78.2 ppg while outscoring the opposition by over 15 points per contest. Much like the men, the Women have shot the ball well this season (46.3%), good for 18
th in the country.
The West Virginia Wesleyan Women's Basketball team heads into Saturday holding a record of 3-9 (1-5 MEC) and comes off an 81-76 loss to West Virginia Tech University in their most recent contest on Sunday. The Bobcats are led offensively by Brittany Stawovy and Nicole Gilyard, who both average just over 12 ppg and 5 rebounds per contest.
In their matchup history, the Golden Eagles and Bobcats have squared off 16 times with Charleston holding a 10-6 advantage and victors in their last three contests (all during the 2018-19 season). The first matchup between the teams came in 2011 when the Golden Eagles defeated Wesleyan 68-41 while holding 2000-point club member, former All-American and German Professional Lydia Bridenbaugh to just 1-of-10 shooting for the duration of the contest.
