Charleston, W. Va – On Saturday, the Golden Eagles hosted the always talented Fairmont State Falcons for their second meeting of the year. In the previous matchup, the Falcons took a 74-61 victory over Charleston in the Joe Retton Arena. With the amount of fans traveling for the squad, this one could have been considered a neutral site matchup. 
 
The Basics
Location: Wehrle Innovation Center
Score: UC 73, FSU 83
Records: UC (14-6, 11-3 MEC), FSU (16-5, 11-3 MEC) 
 
How it Happened
In the first half, Fairmont State displayed their ability to shoot the ball from just about everywhere on the floor. The clock would roll for three minutes uninterrupted to open up the first half, which led way for Fairmont State to grab the early lead over the Golden Eagles. Immediately, the Falcons showed they were not afraid to shoot from beyond the arc, as they would hurl up 14 total attempts in the half from three-point territory and find seven of them to fall. With 14:32 left to play in the half, Fairmont State held a 12-6 lead over Charleston, who was struggling to match shots from around the perimeter. Following the media timeout, the Falcons would go on a six-minute 18-6 run before head coach Dwaine Osborne would use his first timeout of the half. 
 
Then, the shootout. 
 
Charleston would go on to score 25 points to end the half to cut away at the deficit; the only issue was that Fairmont State had Isaiah Sanders and Briggs Parris, who combined for 12 of the 19 points that the Falcons would score in the closing stages of the half. With Keith Williams' layup at the horn, the basket would cut the deficit to 12 points as Fairmont State took a 49-37 lead into the locker room.
 
Despite the traveling Fairmont State fans, we should also mention the Charleston football team filled up the arena's student section. The Falcons would come out and knock home two back-to-back layups from underneath the basket from George Mangas to spread the lead to 16 points, but the Golden Eagles began to claw back and the student section grew louder and louder. A one-handed jam from Shunta Wilson sparked an 8-1 run to get Charleston back to within 4 points with 6:44 remaining in the game. In the end, Fairmont State would shut down the momentum by scoring 13 points compared to Charleston's seven, holding on for the 83-73 victory on the road in the Wehrle Innovation Center. 
 
Up Next
Charleston will be back at home this Wednesday as they will host the Wheeling Cardinals on February 1^st at 7:30. The Cardinals are coming off an 81-90 loss to Davis & Elkins, but the previous matchup with Charleston entailed only a two-point loss to the Golden Eagles.