WHEELING, W. Va. – The University of Charleston Golden Eagles Men's Basketball team (8-2, 8-2 MEC) defeated the Cardinals of Wheeling University in a tight game on Monday evening by a score of 73-69. The Golden Eagles were led offensively by Lamont McManus, who finished the game with 21 points and five rebounds. Charleston has shown that they possess depth on the offensive end, as there were five players in double digits for Golden Eagles, something that is happening quite regularly this season.
 
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Charleston 73, Wheeling 69
LOCATION: Wheeling, W. Va.
TEAM RECORDS: Charleston (8-2, 8-2 MEC), Wheeling (2-5, 2-5 MEC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half was a close throughout, as neither team could seemingly pull away. The Golden Eagles held the largest lead of the game by seven (16-9) just halfway through the opening frame. Both teams played hard and made key plays to not let the game get out of hand. For Charleston, they capitalized in the points off turnover category with 14 points, making the Cardinals pay for those mistakes. There was not a big difference in field goal percentage, as Charleston finished the 1^st half 14-of-28 (50%), and Wheeling 12-of-30 (40%).

In the first half, there were two ties and four lead changes. In this game, for both teams, every possession was a nail-biter and showed critical value as the game was up for grabs until the final six seconds of play.
The competitiveness continued into the second half, while as the Cardinals came out in the second half firing, Charleston did as well. The will power in the Cardinals showed up in the second chance points column as they dominated that category with 22 second-chance points to Charleston's eight.

With 2:37 left on the clock in the game, the Golden Eagles created a four-point cushion and never looked back. Despite great performances from Wheeling's leading scorers, Jordan Reid (24 points), and Jarret Haines (22 points), it was not enough to knock the Golden Eagles off their hot streak as Charleston prevailed by a final score of 73-69.
 
Charleston Leaders (25-57, 43.9 percent from the field)
Lamont McManus- 21 points, 2 assists, 5 rebounds
Seth O'Neal – 13 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds
Isaiah Gable – 11 points, 1 assist, 7 rebounds
Tyler Eberhart– 10 points, 2 assists, 3 rebounds
 
Wheeling Leaders (23-60, 38.3 percent from the field)
Jordan Reid– 24 points, 12, rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals
Jarret Haines – 22 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds
 John Korte – 15 points, 7 rebounds
 
UP NEXT:
The Golden Eagles will return to action this Wednesday (Feb. 10) against rival West Virginia State at home in the Werhle Innovation Center.