The University of Charleston men's basketball team's game Wednesday night versus No. 1 West Liberty went pretty much the way most of their games in the two previous seasons went. The Golden Eagles were able to hold the Hilltoppers under their astronomical scoring averages, but couldn't generate enough points themselves to take advantage.
Charleston held West Liberty to its lowest scoring output of the year - and 33 points below the Hilltoppers' season scoring average - but WLU was still able to vanquish the Golden Eagles 78-63 at the Civic Center.
Seger Bonifant scored 28 points for West Liberty (12-0, 6-0 Mountain East Conference) to lead all scorers, while the Hilltoppers were able to hold the Golden Eagles (6-6, 3-3 MEC) to 40.4-percent shooting (23 of 57) for the game.
UC coach Dwaine Osborne said, despite the loss, there were several bright spots, especially in the second half, when the Golden Eagles' newcomers shrugged off the initial shock of facing West Liberty's pressure on both offense and defense.
"The first half, some of those guys were like, 'Holy crap, you weren't kidding,' " Osborne said. "Now we settle into what we need to do and we played better."
After trailing by as many as 20 in the first half, Charleston was able to climb back into single-digit striking distance several times. The last time that happened came with 6:40 left in the game. Travon Williams, fouled on a 3-pointer, hit all three free throws to cut West Liberty's lead to 63-55.
But Bonifant led the Hilltoppers' counterpunch, hitting a 3-pointer and a layup to put WLU - which averaged 111.5 points a game entering Wednesday's contest - ahead again by double-digits, this time to stay.
"We're not going to hit the panic button," West Liberty coach Jim Crutchfield said. "We're going to keep doing what we do. And our guys are smart. They've been around a long time. They know teams make runs, but one thing that doesn't change is we just have to get a good look on the other end."
That's what is frustrating, said UC senior guard Tino diTrapano, who led UC with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting. The Golden Eagles made their runs at the Hilltoppers but just could not keep those runs going long enough before West Liberty could answer.
"I felt like we were going to do it," diTrapano said. "We just didn't knock down the shots we needed and didn't get the stops that we needed. But that's a hard team to stop."
At the start of the game, it looked like UC might have found the improved shooting touch it had during a four-game December winning streak, but seemed to lose Monday in a loss to Wheeling Jesuit. The Golden Eagles hit four early 3-pointers, took a quick 12-7 lead and went into the first media time out tied with the Hilltoppers at 16-all.
However, West Liberty didn't let up when the two teams returned to the floor. The Hilltoppers sprinted off on a 10-0 run, snapped on a Justin Coleman layup. After hitting 6 of its first 10 shots, Charleston made just 5 of 18 for the rest of the half. West Liberty started red-hot, making five of its first seven shots from the floor, and stayed productive, making 17 of 30 for the entire first half.
It was a rough introduction for UC's newcomers, players like Coleman, Williams and Jaylen Hinton. It's one thing to tell those players about what West Liberty can do, diTrapano said. It's another to experience it.
"It's hard to explain to them," diTrapano said. "You try to tell them about West Lib. And then they see it."
Aleksander Kesic scored 16 points, joining diTrapano in making four 3-pointers on the night. Coleman, who struggled from the floor, making 2 of 7 shots for 4 points, pulled down 10 rebounds. Zac Grossenbacher scored 20 for West Liberty and added 10 rebounds, while David Dennis added 17 points.
UC's run of tough games continues Sunday, when the Golden Eagles host No. 5 Fairmont State at 4 p.m. at the Civic Center.