CHARLESTON, W. Va. – The University of Charleston Men's Basketball team will play their last regular season matchup of the year on Saturday afternoon as the Golden Eagles host the Yellow Jackets from West Virginia State on Senior Day. Tip is set for 4:00 p.m. at the Wehrle Innovation Center as Drew Rackley and Devon Robinson will be honored in the pregame ceremony.
Media Coverage:
Live Stats and video feed will be available for Saturday's game through the links supplied below:
The University of Charleston Golden Eagles Men's Basketball team (22-5, 16-5 MEC) increased their win-streak to five games on Wednesday evening as they took on the Pioneers from Glenville State in a nail-biting contest that came down to the last possession of the game as the Golden Eagles brought home a 71-70 win. Charleston was led offensively by Lamont McManus, who finished the contest with 21 points and five rebounds while Devon Robinson added 16 points and 13 rebounds of his own.
Charleston got off to a quick start from the opening tip on Wednesday, scoring the first three buckets of the game including a pair of three-pointers from
Drew Rackley and
Keith Williams to put the Golden Eagles ahead 9-0 under three minutes into the ball game. Immediately, Glenville State used a 10-0 run of their own over the next 2:30 to take a 10-9 lead on eight points from Phillip Bledsoe. After each team exchanged a bucket, the Pioneers found themselves up by a point before a foul by
Eddie Colbert III on a Bledsoe three-point attempt allowed Glenville to take a four-point lead. After trailing by as many as six with just over 10 minutes remaining in the opening half, the Golden Eagles put together their second 9-0 run of the half to jump on top of the Pioneers 20-17 with six minutes left in the half.
With two minutes remaining and the Golden Eagles leading by six, the Pioneers would close out the half on a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to one headed into the break. At the break, Bledsoe led all scorers with 13 points while
Devon Robinson led the Golden Eagles with eight points and seven rebounds. In the opening half, each team shot the ball 37.0% from the field with both the Golden Eagles and Pioneers converting four shots from beyond the arc.
Headed into the second half, the teams exchanged leads three times with neither team leading by more than three points through the first nine minutes of play. After a turnover from McManus brought the teams to the under-ten media break, Glenville extended their lead to five points on a made bucket from Steven Verplancken with 9:23 remaining in the game. Charleston then used an 8-0 over the next two minutes to regain the lead at 57-54 with 7:22 remaining. After a made free throw attempt from Verplancken with 6:20 left in the ballgame that gave the Pioneers a 58-57 lead, the Golden Eagles would not see the score in their favor again until seven second left when McManus, who scored the final six points of the game, sank the game-winning free throw for the Golden Eagles.
Both teams played a clean contest with turnovers favoring Glenville State 7-11 while the Golden Eagles edged out the opposition from beyond the arc 7-6.
Full recap and box score
here
Victors in their last five games, the Golden Eagles have put together a crucial set of wins down the stretch as they head into the Mountain East Conference Tournament next week. Charleston, who heads into Saturday ranked 7
th in the country in field goal percentage (51.8%), come off their worst shooting game of the season (39.7%) against Glenville State. Prior to Wednesday, Charleston overcame a 41.8% shooting night in just their second game of the season against California (PA); a game that was also won by Charleston as Senior Drew Rackley sank a game-winning three-point attempt at the buzzer in the PSAC/MEC Crossover.
Wednesday's matchup was won on 14 second-chance points as Charleston tallied a season-high 18 offensive rebounds. The last time the Golden Eagles pulled down at least 18 rebounds on the offensive end was against UVA Wise on December 1, 2018.
The Golden Eagles are led offensively this season by Drew Rackley (17.9 ppg), Lamont McManus (15.1 ppg), Devon Robinson (13.6 ppg, 11.1 rpg), and Seth O'Neal (13.1 ppg, 5.4 apg). Wednesday's win marked the highest number of wins in a season (22) under Head Coach Dwaine Osborne who has three 20-win seasons under his belt at UC (2014, 2019, & 2020).
Scouting the Opponent:
West Virginia State comes into the contest holding a record of 18-8 (13-8 MEC) and have lost two of their last three contests, most recently an 89-75 defeat at the hands of Concord on Wednesday evening. The Yellow Jackets have the 5
th highest scoring offense in the country (93.8 ppg) and rank 12
th in steals per game (9.4). The Bryan Poore led Yellow Jackets have posted their best conference record since the inception of the Mountain East and despite posting a 13-2 record at home, dropped below .500 on the road (5-6) on Wednesday. The Yellow Jackets are led offensively by Junior Glen Abram (18.4 ppg) and Jeremiah Moore (16.0 ppg, 7.7 rpg). Charleston native Anthony Pittman rounds out the offense for WVSU as the Freshman averages 14.8 points per contest.
Things to Know for Saturday:
- In a physical game against State on January 26th saw the teams go to the free throw line a combined 34 times. Charleston, who as a team averages 75.3% from the line, converted 17-of-18 (94.4%) for their best mark of the season.
- Devon Robinson recorded a season-high 16 rebounds against WVSU on January 26th while tallying 16 points. Expect Robinson to crash the glass on both the offensive and defensive ends in Saturday's home finale.
- Averaging 100.5 ppg headed into the middle of January, the Yellow Jackets have seen their average drop to 92.9 ppg while averaging just 86.0 ppg in their last four contests.
Matchup History:
The Golden Eagles and the Yellow Jackets have squared off 21 times in their history with Charleston holding a 13-8 advantage. The Golden Eagles three-game win streak against the Yellow Jackets came to an end on January 26
th as Charleston fell on the road in Institute by a score of 74-72.
