The University of Charleston picked up a big win Thursday night, easily disposing of regionally ranked Concord 92-62 in Mountain East Conference men's hoops action at the Charleston Civic Center.
The Mountain Lions, who have already automatically qualified for the conference tournament next week and is ranked No. 9 in the region, was no match for the Golden Eagles, who scored 56 points in the first half while running out to a 19-point lead.
For, UC (14-13 overall, 11-10 in the MEC), Aleksander Kesic led a balanced effort with 20 points. Justin Coleman added 17 points and nine rebounds while Jevonte Hughes and former George Washington standout Tino diTrapano contributed 14 points each.
Rob Reed paced Concord (18-9, 13-8) with 19 points and Jametrius Wade chipped in with 11 points.
nnn
WEST VIRGINIA STATE MEN LOSE: Matt Day set a Mountain East Conference record with 49 points in leading Virginia-Wise to a comfortable 102-89 victory over West Virginia State at home.
Day was 11 for 25 from the field and 24 for 27 from the free-throw line. He also added 15 rebounds for the Cavaliers (4-23, 2-19).
Markee Mazyck scored a team-high 23 points and Kenny Strong added 22 for State, which fell to 6-20 overall and 4-17 in league play.
nnn
UC WOMEN WIN: The University of Charleston started and finished strong, outscoring Concord 38-20 in the first and fourth quarters to earn a 73-60 victory over the Mountain Lions Thursday night at the Charleston Civic Center.
Chyress Lockhart led UC (11-16 overall, 9-12 MEC) with 21 points, followed by Tia Clement with 15 points and former Hurricane standout Abby Watson with 13 points.
For Concord (5-22, 3-18), Danielle Catron scored 14 points and Alexis Lowery added 12.
nnn
STATE WOMEN WIN: Visiting West Virginia State trailed by three points at halftime but used a strong second half to earn an 88-78 victory over Virginia-Wise.
State trailed 40-37 at halftime but outscored the Cavaliers 51-38 in the second half. Laura Szorenyi poured in 31 points for the Yellow Jackets (13-14, 10-11 MEC), Deyahnna Styles added 21 points, Alexus Hobbs contributed 11 and Trina Current chipped in with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Blair Harding scored a team-high 21 points for Wise (11-14, 8-13), followed by Taylor Sandidge with 17 and Alle Moore with 16.
nnn
MARSHALL WOMEN WIN: The Herd rallied from a 10-point deficit after the first quarter for a come-from-behind 73-65 victory over UAB in Conference USA action at the Henderson Center.
Marshall trailed 18-8 after the first quarter but cut the deficit to six at halftime, and outscored the Blazers by 16 in the third quarter to seize control of the game.
Leah Scott led Marshall (17-9, 7-8 in Conference USA) with 21 points and nine rebounds and Chelsey Romero added 19 points as the pair combined for 40 of the team's 73 points.
Chelsee Black paced UAB (13-13, 6-9) with 13 points and Brittany Winborne contribued 12 points and 11 rebounds.
nnn
WVU TECH SWIMMING: Both the Golden Bears men's and women's teams are ranked nationally in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Swimming and Diving Coaches Poll. The Tech men are ranked No. 3 with the women coming in at No. 8.
nnn
MARSHALL TRACK: The Thundering Herd women's team wrapped up competition in the Conference USA Indoor Track and Field Championships Thursday in Birmingham, Alabama. Senior Asia Bange placed the highest for Marshall with a fourth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles. Elena Marchand finished sixth in the shot put, and the team of Elisabeth Paulina, Breanna Hargrove, Naja Greer and Shanice Johnson had a ninth-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay.
nnn
MARSHALL SWIMMING & DIVING: The Herd earned a gold, silver and bronze medal at the Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championships in Atlanta Thursday.
Junior Megan Wolon took the gold in the 3-meter dive with a winning score of 316.70. It was Marshall's first Conference USA diving championship.
Marshall's silver came in teh 200 freestyle relay as Lauren Cowher, Gloriyan Mavrova, Maggie Stovall and Chloe Parsemain finished in 2:06.33.
Freshman Caroline Wanner finished third in the 200 meter individual medley with a time of 2:01.68.
The final day of competition begins today at 10:30 a.m.