CHARLESTON, W.Va.—No. 16 University of Charleston Men's Basketball (20-3, 14-2 MEC) captures their twentieth win of the season and extends their win streak to six games after defeating Salem University (7-18) 108-65 in the Wehrle Innovation Center. This is the third time the Golden Eagles have come out on top against the Tigers this season.
Shunta Wilson and DeAirius Barker played key roles in the win. Together they put up 48 of the team's 108 points with Wilson scoring 26 and Barker scoring 22. On top of leading the Golden Eagles in points, Wilson also led in rebounds with eight while shooting .667 from the floor with three assists, two blocks and a steal. As a team Charleston outscored Salem 26-6 on points off turnovers, 16-6 on fast break points, 10-8 on second chance points and 28-34 on points in the paint.
The Basics:
Location: Charleston, WV
Score: 108-65 (UCWV)
How it Happened:
The Golden Eagles started the game off with a bang with two straight three-pointers by Tyler Eberhart and Wilson. The Tigers followed up with a jump shot, but Charleston continued to heat up with a five-point run featuring two free throws by Wilson, a trey by Barker and a jumper by Eddie Colbert III. UC kept chugging along from that point on, eventually extending their lead to 26-8. The Tigers were able to cut the deficit down to just 12, however that was the closest they were able to get before the Golden Eagles closed out the half leading 50-35 with a field goal percentage of .594 (19-32).
Following the first, Colbert III quickly got the ball rolling again for Charleston on a layup to extend the lead to 52-35 in the second half. The margin only continued to grow as the minutes dwindled down with CJ Meredith (3), Keaton Turner, Cameron Marks, Wilson, Eberhart and Barker (2) draining threes. After shooting .531 (17-32) from the field, .500 (9-18) from three and .789 (15-19) from the line, the Golden Eagles secured the 108-65 victory over the Tigers.
Wilson and Barker led the scoring for Charleston, but Eberhart, Colbert III and Meredith were also influential, as they went 14-15-16 in the points column on the stat sheet. They were impressive from the floor with Eberhart going 4-5 (.800), Meredith going 5-7 (.714) and Colbert III going 7-10 (.700). After putting up a high of nine assists, Jones continues to lead the Mountain East Conference in assists.
Up Next:
UC takes a break from conference play, as they head to Frankfort, Kentucky on Monday, February 19 to face Kentucky State University in the William Exum Center at 5:30pm. The Thorobreds are 10-12 overall and 7-11 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
