University of Charleston men's basketball coach Dwaine Osborne demanded three things from his Golden Eagles before they took the court Saturday afternoon against Urbana. They were the three things he didn't see in their last game, a loss to Notre Dame College - effort, communication and obedience.
The players provided all three Saturday at the Civic Center, especially in the second half, when they shot 55.9 percent from the floor to pull away from the Blue Knights for an 88-73 win that snapped UC's three-game losing streak.
Jevonte Hughes led all scorers with 25 points on an 8-of-11 shooting night and added 10 rebounds as the Golden Eagles (12-10, 9-7 Mountain East Conference) held the Blue Knights to 32.4 percent shooting (23 for 71) from the floor.
On top of any statistical goal Osborne had for UC on Saturday, he expected his Golden Eagles to play with effort, communicate with each other and do what was asked of them. The consequences for failing in those three areas would be swift.
"I said, 'I promise you, those things are going to happen today,' " Osborne said. "Does that mean we win? I don't know, but I just know you're going to play really hard, you're going to talk and you're going to try to do what's asked of you. Because if we have to sub at the 19:58 mark, you're out. And we'll just sub, sub, sub the whole game."
UC's substitutions were plentiful. All nine players who took the court played at least 16 minutes and none played more than 29. The strategy paid off a bit more in the second half than it did in the first, when the Golden Eagles led just 38-32 and shot 26.5 percent (9 for 34) from the floor.
The Blue Knights (1-20, 0-16) trailed just 42-36 with less than 17 minutes left before Charleston pulled away thanks, in part, to a pair of Urbana intentional fouls. Mike Newton was whistled for the first with 16:27 left when he wrapped his arms around Hughes underneath. Hughes made 1 of 2 free throws, then scored on a layup on the ensuing possession.
Kevin Fisher was tagged for the second one with 14:32 left after a hard foul that left Justin Coleman on the floor. Coleman dusted himself off, sank both free throws, then dunked on the ensuing possession to give UC a 51-38 lead.
"Those hurt a little bit," Urbana coach Rob Summers said. "We shouldn't have been in a situation where we had to foul those guys. A couple times there were bad rotations, and when you have bad rotations you get caught in bad spots. It hurts a young team when you're trying to make a run, and those things happen."
Hughes surged in the second half, scoring 17 of his 25 points in the final 20 minutes. It was the fourth game in his last five he had scored at least 19 points.
"I just wanted to stay aggressive," Hughes said. "Coach said they can't stop me off the dribble, and I just tried to get to the rim. That just happens to be the best part of my game, anyway."
UC jumped ahead 21-9 with 11:11 left in the first half after a pair of Hughes free throws. The junior scored six of his eight first-half points in that run. Charleston, however, would score just 17 points for the rest of the half, allowing the Blue Knights to climb back into striking distance.
Urbana got a lot of help from a pair of four-point plays, both from guard Carlas Jackson, within 70 seconds of each other. Jackson was fouled by Darrion Stokes-Graham on the first one with 6:34 left in the half and sank the free throw. The second came when Hughes fouled Jackson with 5:24 left and he made the free throw again.
Tino diTrapano scored 15 points for UC and added nine rebounds and a game-high eight assists. Coleman scored 10 points with 12 rebounds as UC outrebounded Urbana as a team, 55-39.
The Golden Eagles next play Thursday, hosting West Virginia Wesleyan at 7:30 p.m. the Charleston Catholic Athletic Complex. Osborne said Saturday's win was a great way to jump into the practice week.
"As a coach, it feels good to have a team that will try to respond to what you ask them to do," Osborne said.