Charleston, W.Va- The Golden Eagles Men's Basketball squad squared up against the Big Blue of Bluefield State College in a non-conference matchup late into the season. The Golden Eagles have dominated the previous seven matchups and own the total series 8-1 over the Big Blue.
The Basics
Location: Wehrle Innovation Center
Score: UC- 97 BSC- 63
Records: Charleston (17-5, 12-4 MEC) Bluefield State (6-11)
How it Happened
Per usual, the night's scoring opened up with a layup from under the basket by Lamont McManus. Bluefield State made sure Charleston earned every basket they had by playing full court press defense as soon as they scored their first basket. Despite the defense, it was a high scoring opening five minutes. With Jeremiah Keene's floater with 15:00 remaining in the half, the score jumped to a quick 16-8 in favor of the Golden Eagles. Many of Charleston's baskets came from McManus who was able to draw a few fouls and under the basket and convert from the line. Keene was automatic with the right-handed floater all night, and his 3rd of the night gave Charleston a comfortable 25-13 lead halfway through the 1st. The scoring began to stall out for both squads as many shorts were unable to fall. The Big Blue were able to narrow the lead to single digits at 32-23 with 3:27 remaining in the half. The Golden Eagles began to click defensively and get a handful of takeaways leading to fast paced layups which allowed for Charleston to spread the margin. Shunta Wilson ended the half with a follow-up dunk that brought the crowd to their feet at the sound of the horn and the Golden Eagles went into the locker room with the 44-25 lead.
Picking up right where he left off, Wilson then started the second half scoring with an impressive layup through traffic. The offense was rolling to say the least. Four minutes in, Charleston grew the lead to 58-29 with 15:23 remaining after an electric alley-oop dunk from none other than the man whose hands had been on the rim all night, Shunta Wilson. By that point, the game was out of the Big Blue's hands. Halfway through the 2nd, the Golden Eagles had a whopping 73-39 lead. Being up 34 points, Coach Osbourne continued to allow for the starters to gain some more playing time and maintain the lead. Bluefield State continued to play full court press the entire game, but Charleston found a way to consistently get down the court and pour the points on the Big Blue. The Parkersburg native, Cameron Parks, got to see a lot of time on the court with the Golden Eagles up 88-52 with five minutes remaining and was able to pick up an assist to Eddie Colbert's three pointer. Parks was even able to knock home a long range three pointer under some heavy pressure to put Charleston up 94-58. After many last minute stoppages for fouls, Charleston came out with a decisive win over the Big Blue 97-63.
Up Next:
On Wednesday night, Charleston will look to keep the ball rolling as they take on the West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats back at home on February 9th at 7:30 p.m.
