— Story by Taylor Kennedy
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The University of Charleston did something Saturday evening that had not been done in a long time. The Golden Eagles gave West Liberty its first three-game losing streak in the Ben Howlett era. UC defeated the Hilltoppers 78-74, which was the Golden Eagles’ sixth straight victory.
A victory against a top-rated opponent can be a game-changer and morale boost for a team. UC head basketball coach Dwaine Osborne sees this as a positive for his guys moving forward.
“I think this win does a lot for us. One of the things we have tried to talk to our team about is we have multiple guys that could go anywhere and play tons of minutes. For us, we try and talk about basketball as a team sport. Everybody is part of it,” said Osborne. “I think we have a team that has like five or seven guys that have and could score 20 points in a college game. It goes back to our depth and it was a big part of what we did tonight. It allowed us to get a true team win in terms of a lot of players participating.”
West Liberty stretched its lead to as much as 13 points in the first half, but UC would claw back into the game and found themselves down by six at the break. Osborne was impressed at how his team’s demeanor shifted in the second half.
“I thought we showed a lot of grit and fight. I thought our composure was not great in the first half, and I thought we settled in the second half. I was proud of the continued fight. It is hard to win a college basketball game, period. I do not think people realize that. It is really hard to beat a good team. It is also hard to win when you are double-digits multiple occasions in either half. I thought it showed a lot of character in our team,” said Osborne.
Osborne and his squad saw two of their primary ball handlers receive their third fouls. It was at a bad time due to West Liberty’s continuous full-court pressure. Osborne gave credit to how his team responded, despite missing two pieces of his frontcourt.
“I thought we handled the press well for the most part. I think one of the things that are helping our team is our overall depth. Seth [O’Neal] has played against West Liberty a bunch throughout his career. I think Shaunn Monroe, who is primarily our backup point guard, shows good poise and handles the press well. I think another thing that helps us is that we take Isaiah Gable, Riley Heatherington, and Tyler Eberhart and put them up there,” said Osborne.
After a timeout or dead ball, in the second half especially, the Golden Eagles would line up all five players on the baseline, and four players would break off once one of them received the ball. Osborne gives credit to how West Liberty responded to the unique press breaker.
“It is a little different. I am good friends with Ben [Howlett]. I think he does a phenomenal job. He is the first person to have a feel for the adjustment for it. I think Luke [Dyer], their point guard, did a good job picking up on it,” said Osborne.
Coaches always find new and different ways to win games. Some will reach out to other coaches from various sports and find ways to implement something into their sport. That is exactly what Osborne did, and he also recalled his old football days in creating it.
“I am a big football fan. I will go try and pick our football coach’s brain and see how he does different things. I played football in high school. It has been very effective for us, and it is a little different than the norm,” said Osborne.
The Golden Eagles saw four guys record double-figure performances, including Lamont McManus tallying 18-points. McManus earned a lot of his points around the rim. Osborne gives credit to how different McManus’ arsenal is compared to other bigs.
“I think he has great hands. I think he is super physical. I do not feel like he is a player to get the benefit of the doubt in terms of going to the free-throw line. I feel like he constantly has people shoving him and being super physical with him, and it does not always get rewarded. But, I feel like his toughness and poise has allowed him to understand that he might not always get the call. He knows he will have to be a man in there. I think him being physical, great hands, and soft-touch has been a great player for us. He is a special player for us,” said Osborne.
Three other players scored in double-figures, including sophomore Eddie Colbert scoring 18 points. The Golden Eagles finished the game shooting 46% from the field. They also shot an impressive 39% from behind the arc. UC outscored West Liberty 41-31 in the second half.
The Hilltoppers were led by senior Dalton Bolon with 19 points, which was the 86th time in his historic career he recorded double-figures. Tonight’s game was his 101st game at West Liberty. That means he has scored 10+ points in 85% of his career games with the Hilltoppers.
WLU’s Pat Robinson III and Will Yoakum also scored in double-digits.
UC will head up to Marion County to take on the Fairmont State Fighting Falcons on Wednesday, and West Liberty will head back home for its rescheduled game against Glenville State on Monday.