BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Wesleyan men’s basketball team lost to the University of Charleston 84-53 on Wednesday night. The Golden Eagles shot 54% from the field and knocked down ten triples while also dishing out 22 assists. The Bobcats shot 1-12 (8%) from three in the loss.
Charleston came out shooting hot, starting the game up 15-4 and shooting 6-of-7 from the field. Consecutive hook shots by Ike Dove cut the Golden Eagle lead to just seven right before the commercial timeout. The Bobcats let Charleston build their lead back up, forcing head coach Derek Sloan to a call a timeout after Wesleyan fell behind 31-16 with 7:30 left in the half.
Tyler Slone and Jalen Anderson came out of the timeout knocking down shots to keep WVWC in the scoring column but the UC offense was too much in the closing minutes. Charleston went on another run, finishing the first half up 44-23. UC’s Tyler Eberhart had all of his 10 points in the opening half.
The Bobcats opened up the second half scoring six unanswered with a Darius Green layup and a few inside scores Dove, trimming the UC lead to 15. The Golden Eagles used their outside shooting to answer back, connecting on midrange jumpers and some from behind the arc to build their lead back up. Wesleyan stayed afloat, trailing 60-40 at the under-10 media timeout.
From there, Charleston put it out of reach, going on a 15-3 run and connecting on three triples in that span, extending their lead to 30 with just under four and a half minutes to go. A few emphatic dunks by UC closed the game.
Charleston was led by Eddie Colbert III and Shunta Wilson with 14 points each. Jeremiah Keene and Tyler Eberhart both added 10 points in the win. Keith Williams had a productive night, scoring nine points while also dishing out seven assists and grabbing four rebounds.
Green was the only Bobcat to reach double-figures, finishing the night with 15 points. Anthony Craven Jr. chimed in with nine points. Green and Craven Jr. pulled down five rebounds apiece.
Wesleyan will be in Institute on Saturday to face the West Virginia State Yellow Jackets at 4 p.m.
