FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- Seventh-ranked Fairmont State pulled away from Charleston in the closing minutes of Saturday afternoon's Mountain East Conference matchup to pick up a 76-65 victory and get the season sweep over the Golden Eagles.
 
With the win, the nationally-ranked Falcons improve to 23-3 overall and 17-3 in the conference. Charleston falls to .500 on the season at 13-13 overall and 10-10 in the league.
 
After a layup by Tino Ditrapano to cut Fairmont's lead to just one-possession at the 2:17 mark of the second half, the Falcons got back-to-back threes from Thomas Wimbush and scored 10 of the final 12 points of the game to pick up a hard-fought 76-65 victory. Prior to FSU grabbing a double-digit lead late, the game was very similar to the 66-65 road win over UC back on Jan. 10.
 
The largest lead by either team in the first 38 minutes of the game was a seven-point lead for the Falcons at the 14:13 mark of the first half after a three by Chase Connor.
 
Fairmont State shot 45.2 percent from the field (28-of-62) and 38.1 percent from behind the arc (8-of-21). UC shot three percent higher than FSU from the floor (48.1), but struggled from three, making just 3-of-12 attempts. The teams were even on the glass, pulling down 34 boards apiece.
 
UC held a 44-30 advantage scoring in the paint, but FSU scored 22 points-off turnover and 17 second-chance points.
 
Wimbush scored a team-high 24 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead FSU in the victory. Jason Jolly was the only other Falcons to reach double-figures, scoring 10 points in 15 minutes of action. Trevor Andrews-Evans also chipped in nine points, nine rebounds and tied a career-high with seven blocked shots on Saturday afternoon. Caleb Davis and Chase Connor also chipped in eight points apiece.
 
Jevonte Hughes scored a game and career-high 26 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to lead UC. Hughes was 12-of-15 from the field. The Golden Eagles also got 11 points apiece from Ditrapano and Aleksander Kesic. Kesic also added 11 boards, giving UC two players with double-doubles.
 
The Falcons will return to action next Thursday when Glenville State visits Joe Retton Arena for a 7:30 p.m. tip. Thursday will be senior day for both Jamel Morris and Chris Lewis.