South Euclid, Ohio – The University of Charleston Men's Basketball team traveled to Notre Dame College where they defeated the home Falcons to move to the top of the MEC Standings.
The Basics
Location: Murphy Gymnasium – South Euclid, OH
Score: UC 73 NDC 64
Records: Charleston (11-2, 7-1 MEC) Notre Dame (9-7, 6-3 MEC)
How it Happened
The University of Charleston men's basketball team used a stingy defense and a strong performance rebounding to pick a road win against Notre Dame College, 73-64, in Euclid, OH. The win, coupled with a West Liberty loss to Fairmont State, moves the Golden Eagles into sole possession of first place in the MEC. UC is now 11-2 overall and 7-1 in MEC play. All other 11 teams have at least two league losses.
UC opened the game by winning the tip and having their first possession of the game end with a Keith Williams three-point shot. That would allow UC to never trail in the contest as they would jump out to a 20-12 lead midway through the first half. Notre Dame would use an 8-0 run to claw back to a 20-20 tie with eight minutes to play in the opening stanza. The Golden Eagles would absolutely dominate the remaining eight minutes as they held Notre Dame to one three-point make the rest of the way. The 15-3 run to close the half gave UC a 35-23 edge at intermission.
The Golden Eagles would push their lead to as many as 15 points on two occasions in the opening minutes of the second half, with the final time coming at 46-31 with 16:00 to play. The host Falcons would continue to fight back as they trimmed their deficit to just three at 51-48. However, UC would use a 7-1 spurt to push their lead back to nine and would hold on from there to pick up the hard fought 73-64 road victory.
UC converted 50.0% of their field goal attempts in the contest which helped them overcome subpar performances from the three-point line (33.3%) and the free throw line (59.1%). The Golden Eagles also dominated the glass as they outrebounded the Falcons 37-25 and allowed just four offensive rebounds in the contest. Notre Dame converted 46.0% of their attempts, including just 30.4% from long range.
Individually, UC was led by Lamont McManus' 20 points on an efficient seven of nine performance from the field. Eddie Colbert scored all 15 of his points in the second half and also added eight rebounds in the contest. Isaiah Gable added 11 points and also had eight rebounds, tying Colbert for game high honors on the glass for UC.
In addition, the win was the 159th win for Dwaine Osborne during his tenure at UC, moving him into a tie for fourth all-time with Morris Harvey legend Eddie King. With the Golden Eagles next win, Osborne will move into a tie for third place at 160 with another UC Hall of Famer in Jayson Gee.
Up Next
Charleston will face off with hometown rival West Virginia State University at home on Saturday January 22nd.
