CHARLESTON, W. Va. – The University of Charleston Basketball teams are set to travel north to Buckhannon, W. Va. on Saturday afternoon to take on the Bobcats of West Virginia Wesleyan College with tip scheduled for 2:00 (Women's) and 4:00 p.m. (Men's) at the Rockefeller Center located on the campus of WVWC.
Media Coverage:
Live Stats and video feed will be available for Saturday's games through the links supplied below:
Men's Basketball Outlook:
The University of Charleston Golden Eagles Men's Basketball team (18-5, 12-5 MEC) defeated the Senators of Davis & Elkins College in a game that was up for grabs until the final minute of the ballgame when the Golden Eagles pulled away on free throw attempts to defeat the visitors by a score of 89-79. The Golden Eagles were led offensively by Drew Rackley, who notched his 1,000
th career point at Charleston while collecting three rebounds in the win.
On Wednesday, the Golden Eagles came out to an early 6-2 lead in the opening three minutes. Davis & Elkins outscore the Golden Eagles 13-12 over the next seven minutes to bring the score to 16-15 in favor of Charleston. Charleston shot 66.0 percent in the final six minutes of the half to head into the break with a 50-40 lead over the visitors.
The Golden Eagles went 20-of-31 from the floor in the first half, knocking down 18 points from behind the arc, led by Rackley with 18 in the half. Charleston forced five Senator turnovers, capitalizing with 15-points in response.
The Golden Eagles started the second half with a 13-9 run maintaining their lead, as the Senators climbed back in bringing the score to 60-64 with 10 minutes to play in regulation.
Charleston gained their largest lead of the game in the final minute of play as Devon Robinson sunk a pair of free throws for the 94-86 lead over D&E. The Senators would put away one more bucket bringing the finals score to 94-88.
Full recap and box score
here
After dropping two consecutive games prior to Wednesday's win, the Golden Eagles found their stride from beyond the arc against the Senators, converting on 12-of-23 attempts (52.2%) for their 4
th highest mark as a team this season. As a team, the Golden Eagles shot 57.1% from the floor converting 32 field goals while committing just seven turnovers. Both teams played evenly on the boards, finding 22 rebounds apiece but Charleston took advantage of 11 D&E turnovers to outscore the opposition 17-4 in points-off turnovers. As a team, the Golden Eagles are led offensively this season Rackley, who averages 18.5 points per contest while Seth O'Neal, Lamont McManus, and Devon Robinson all average double-digit scoring marks.
Charleston comes into the contest ranked 9
th in Division II in rebound margin (7.9) while holding the 7
th best field goal percentage (52.0%). In the MEC, the Golden Eagles rank first in both field goal percentage as well as scoring defense, allowing the opposition to score just 72.0 points per contest.
Scouting the Opponent:
West Virginia Wesleyan comes into the contest holding a record of 9-14 (8-8 MEC) after dropping their most recent matchup to West Virginia State on Thursday evening by a score of 97-87 in overtime. The Nick Patella led Bobcats come into Wednesday as victors in two of their last three contest and are led offensively by Dusan Vicentic, who averages 17.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per contest. Additional help on the offensive end comes from senior guard Luka Petrovic, who notches 13.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.
Things to Know for Wednesday:
- The Golden Eagles posted their second-best shooting performance of the season against the Bobcats on January 8th, converting 40-of-63 shots from the floor and making 15-of-30 three-point attempts in a game that Drew Rackley and Dusan Vicentic both reached 1,000 collegiate points.
- Look for Charleston to continually pressure on the defensive end as the Golden Eagles recorded a season-high 15 steals leading to 29 points from turnovers against the Bobcats on January 8th.
- Led by Seth O'Neal with seven assists, the Golden Eagles recorded a season-high 22 against the Bobcats on January 8th in their 102-77 victory.
Matchup History:
The Golden Eagles and the Bobcats have squared off 16 times in their history with Charleston holding a 9-7 advantage. Charleston comes into the contest having won three consecutive games against Wesleyan with their largest margin of victory coming in their last contest, a 102-77 win at the Wehrle Innovation Center just over a month ago.
Women's Basketball Outlook:
The University of Charleston Golden Eagles Women's Basketball team (19-4, 14-3 MEC), improved to 11-1 at home this season and increased their win streak to seven games after defeating the Senators of Davis & Elkins College by a score of 58-51 on Wednesday evening. The Golden Eagles were led offensively by Brooklyn Pannell, who scored 19 points while collecting five rebounds and tallying an assist.
On Wednesday, after Anna Hayton scored the opening bucket of the contest just twenty seconds in, it took nearly four minutes for the next basket for either team to find the bottom of the net as Jessica Eadsforth-Yates put D&E on the board with a layup with 6:16 remaining in the opening quarter. Headed into the media timeout, the low-scoring 4-2 game stood in favor with the Senators. After exchanged buckets out of the timeout, the final four minutes of the quarter remained scoreless until Dakota Reeves gave UC an 8-7 lead with three seconds remaining. For the quarter, both teams shot 3-of-12 from the floor (25.0%) while combining 2-o-f-8 from the charity stripe with four turnovers a piece.
Charleston scored the first bucket of the second quarter on a mid-range jumper from Brooklyn Pannell with 8:45 on the clock that was immediately answered with a 4-0 Senator run to give the visitors an 11-10 lead. Six consecutive points scored by Pannell allowed the Golden Eagles to take an 18-13 lead headed into the media timeout. An 8-2 Golden Eagle run out of the timeout forced the Senators to call a timeout with Charleston holding their largest lead of the game at 26-15. After exchanged baskets to end the half, the Golden Eagles carried a nine-point lead into the break, leading 30-21.
For the half, the Golden Eagles defense held the Senators to 8-of-27 from the floor (29.6%) while shooting 11-of-28 (39.3%) themselves. The Golden Eagles outscored the Senators 20-8 in the paint despite converting an attempt from beyond the arc. Charleston did a good job in the opening half by holding Senator Jamiyah Johnson, who averages just under 20 points and 15 rebounds per game, to just one point and five rebounds in first half.
The Senators scored the first seven points of the half to cut the Charleston lead to just two points with 8:18 remaining in the third quarter. The Golden Eagles used a 6-0 run to regain an eight-point lead headed into the under-five media timeout. Following the timeout, the Senators exploded on a 10-0 run of their own to take a 42-40 lead with 1:10 remaining in the quarter. After a pair of exchanged baskets from both teams, D&E and Charleston went into the final quarter all knotted up at 42-42.
Anna Hayton was able score the first six points of the final quarter from either team to put Charleston ahead 48-42 before a 6-0 run from Davis & Elkins cut the UC lead down to two with 6:41 remaining in the game. The game continued to remain close headed into the final five minutes of the contest with UC holding on to a three-point lead following a layup from Johnson from D&E. A dagger three-point shot from Pannell closed out the game for the Golden Eagles as the shot gave UC a 58-51 lead which would serve as the final score.
Full recap and box score
here
The Golden Eagles currently sit a game back in the MEC standings behind Glenville State (15-2 MEC) with Notre Dame holding the tiebreaker between themselves and the Golden Eagles. Charleston has played all-around solid basketball this season as they Golden Eagles hold the 8
th best three-point field goal percentage (38.3%) in Division II, the 12
th best field goal percentage (46.9%), and the 16
th ranked scoring offense (78.1 ppg). Led by Anna Hayton, the senior averages 19.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game played. LIU Brooklyn transfer Erykah Russell has also shown to be a threat on both ends this season, as the forward has averaged 15 points and 9.5 rebounds per game over her last five contests while averaging 30 minutes per contest.
Scouting the Opponent:
Wesleyan comes into the contest holding a record of 3-20 (1-16 MEC). The Bobcats have yet to find their stride as they have dropped each of their last 18 games dating back to November 23
rd. On the offensive end, the Bobcats are led by Nicole Gilyard and Brittany Stawovy, who average 11.6 and 10.9 points per game respectively.
Things to Know for Wednesday:
- In their last matchup on January 8th, the Golden Eagles posted their largest margin of victory since a 102-point victory over Salem in 2009 with a 105-38 win over the Bobcats at the Wehrle Innovation Center while converting a season-high in made field goals (39) and blocked shots (7).
- Charleston recorded a season-high 23 steals on January 8th against the Bobcats, the most since joining the Mountain East Conference in 2013-14.
- The Golden Eagles held the Bobcats to just 8.7% from beyond the arc (2-of-23) on December 8th, the lowest since holding Wheeling to 1-of-17 (5.9%) on January 10, 2019.
Matchup History:
The Golden Eagles and Bobcats have squared off 17 times in their history with Charleston holding a 11-6 advantage. The Golden Eagles have taken six of the last seven matchups dating back to the 2016-17 season.
