CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- On Wednesday evening, Fairmont State Men's Basketball (5-1, 2-1 MEC) traveled to the University of Charleston (6-1, 3-0 MEC) and fell 87-70 in Mountain East Conference play.
The Golden Eagles opened a 10-point lead over the Fighting Falcons after Keith Williams made a three-pointer with 15:57 to play in the first half.
Myles Monroe converted a basket to cut the advantage back to single digits, but UC continued to add to their lead before the halftime break.
Isaiah Sanders made two free throws before the half as the Falcons trailed 44-30.
In the start of the second half, Fairmont State would not go away as
Cole VonHandorf connected on a three to trim the Golden Eagle to 49-42 and
Seth Younkin made layup to put the Golden Eagles' advantage at five points.
Charleston doubled their lead back to 10 points after Sanders converted two more free throws as Shunta Wilson answered with two points from the charity stripe to make the score, 60-50, in favor of Charleston. Fairmont State made one more run late as
Brendan Paul hit one from beyond the arc to cut the lead to five once again, but the Golden Eagles maintained the momentum and earned the 87-70 on Wednesday evening.
The Falcons shot 45.8% (27-59) from the floor and were 5-15 (33.3%) from three-point range. Fairmont State also went 11-20 from the charity stripe with Sanders having a perfect night at the line going 8-8.
Sanders led the Falcons in scoring with 27 points with nine made field goals and a perfect 8-8 from the free-throw line.
Seth Younkin missed a double-double by one rebound as he recorded 13 points and nine boards in the contest.
For Charleston, the Golden Eagles went 33-62 (53.2%) from the field and knocked in 13 threes. UC held the advantage in bench points,35-11, as Tyler Eberhart came off the bench and scored a team-high 17 points for the Golden Eagles. Keith Williams and Jeremiah Keene followed Eberhart with 16 points each.
The Fighting Falcons (5-1, 2-1 MEC) is back in action Saturday afternoon when they host West Virginia State (4-3, 1-1 MEC) at 4:00 p.m. inside Joe Retton Arena.
