Millersville, Pa. –The Golden Eagles showed a dominate performance in their opening weekend at the Ron Wilson Classic, taking home two wins to open the season 2-0.  
 
The Basics:
Location: Pucillo Gymnasium
Score: UC 107, Mansfield 57
Records: Charleston 1-0, Mansfield 0-1
 
How it Happened:
The Golden Eagles got off to a hot start, scoring the first 13 points of the contest and eventually extending the lead to 22-1 within the first eight minutes of the half. Charleston continued to keep their foot on the gas, and extended the lead by 40, Charleston heading into halftime with a 64-24 lead in their season opener.
 
Charleston opened the second half with back-to-back three pointers from Trevor Barrett and Braden Chapman, extending their lead even further before Mansfield scored their first points of the second half. Charleston took their biggest lead of the contest at the 13:40 mark when Jalen Rivens made a shot from beyond the arc, the Golden Eagles ahead by 53 points, 82-29. The teams traded buckets back and forth for the remainder of the contest, Charleston eventually closing out the win 107-57 over Mansfield.
 
Eli Robertson was the leading scorer for Charleston with 19 points, Matthew Shelton close behind with 17. Eleven of the fourteen Golden Eagles to see the court found points in the victory.
 
The Basics:
Location: Pucillo Gymnasium
Score: UC 89, Millersville 89
Records: Charleston 2-0, Millersville 1-1
 
How it Happened:
The Golden Eagles found themselves trailing early, down 9-4 against the home Marauders. Millersville continued to hold the lead, extending it to 22-12 with 13:01 left in the first half. Charleston then began to inch their way back, cutting the deficit to just one several minutes later, trailing 26-25. The teams then traded several points and found themselves in gridlock at 33-33 with just over five minutes left in the half. In the final two and half minutes of the half, Charleston found their first lead, 40-39 and continued an 11-2 run as the clock sounded zero. The Golden Eagles headed into the half with the lead 51-41 over Millersville.
 
The second half was close the entire way through, Millersville even taking the lead back shortly after the under ten media timeout, 7-069 in favor of the Marauders. The Golden Eagles answered with a seven-point run highlighted by a layup and three from Ben Nicol to give Charleston the edge. Now trailing by six, Millersville looked to inch their way back, eventually cutting the discrepancy to just one-point with 3:42 on the clock, UC ahead 80-79. Charleston once again increased their lead, but the marauders answered back once more, trailing 85-84 with just over a minute left in the contest. Back-to-back dunks from Matthew Shelton and Thomas Hailey sealed the deal in the final moments for the Golden Eagles, Charleston heading home with the victory 89-84.
 
Thomas Hailey was the highlight for the Golden Eagles with 31 points and eight boards in the contest.
 
Up Next:
Charleston will travel to face a familiar regional opponent in the CalPA Vulcans on Wednesday, November 19^th at 7:00PM in the Convocation Center.