CHARLESTON, W. Va.  – The University of Charleston Golden Eagles Men's Basketball team (17-4, 11-4 MEC) dropped an 89-79 decision on Saturday at the hands of West Liberty University. The Golden Eagles were led offensively by Drew Rackley, who scored 33 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds.

JUST THE BASICS
SCORE: West Liberty 89, Charleston 79
LOCATION: WEST LIBERTY, W. Va.
TEAM RECORDS: Golden Eagles (17-5, 11-5 MEC), Hilltoppers (18-4, 13-3 MEC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Golden Eagles and Hilltoppers exchanged buckets through the first six minutes of the contest with West Liberty leading 16-14 at the 13:51 mark in the first half. A pair of three-point shots from the hands of Drew Rackley allowed Charleston to keep the game close before taking the lead on a converted and-one attempt from Seth O'Neal Charleston held a 19-16 lead as Rackley accounted for eight points with 11:52 left in the half before West Liberty used an 7-2 run to take a 23-21 with just over ten minutes remaining.
 
Eight Charleston turnovers in the first 14 minutes of play allowed West Liberty to gain a 33-24 lead, part of a 16-3 run put together by the Hilltoppers. Charleston was able to break their scoreless drought as O'Neal converted on a three-point attempt with 5:20 remaining in the half before the teams exchanged buckets over the next two minutes with West Liberty leading 38-32. At the last media timeout of the half, Charleston trailed 40-32. Over the final three minutes, the teams exchanged buckets before Charleston closed out the frame with a short 3-0 run to hold the West Liberty lead to 44-37 in a very physical first half of play.
 
The Hilltoppers used an extensive full-court press in the first half to force 11 Golden Eagle turnovers, who as a team average just 13 per game. Rackley led Charleston in the first half with 14 points while Will Yoakum led the Hilltoppers with eleven. Charleston, who allowed West Liberty to grab just 11 offensive rebounds in their first matchup on December 11^th, allowed nine in the first half allowing West Liberty to execute on a handful of second-chance points.
 
The Hilltoppers came out to begin the second half operating under the same tempo as they did in the first and extended their lead to ten, leading 51-41 with 15:50 remaining in the contest. After trailing by 13 points with twelve minutes to go, Charleston began to find their stride as Riley Heatherington put together two quick buckets for the Golden Eagles to cut their deficit to single digits. Heatherington cut Hilltopper lead to six after a converted three-point attempt with 9:30 remaining before a pair of free throws from West Liberty's Dalton Bolon brought the score to 64-56. Charleston cut the West Liberty lead to as low as four points with 7:20 remaining in the contest before a 5-0 WLU run brought the score to 70-61. The two teams exchanged buckets over the next three minutes as Hilltopper Head Coach Ben Howlett called a timeout with 4:43 remaining in the game with his squad leading 75-66.
 
Out of the timeout, the Hilltoppers forced two big turnovers in 40 seconds that resulted in five points and an 80-66 lead. The teams continued to exchange buckets over the last four minutes with the Hilltoppers holding on to take an 89-79 victory.


Up Next:
The Golden Eagles will return home on Wednesday for a date with Davis & Elkins with tip scheduled for 7:30 p.m.