Semifinal 1: Second Half Surge Propels UC To Victory
Charleston 76, Glenville State 65
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Charleston Post Game Press Conference (MP3)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- An 18-5 second half surge propelled Charleston to a 76-65 victory over Glenville State in the MEC Tournament semifinals on Thursday night at the Charleston Civic Center.
UC (20-8) was led by Xavier Humphrey's 15 points, and point guard Denzel Douglas filled the box score with 14 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Fred Simpson came off the bench to contribute 14 points and six rebounds, and Aleksander Kesic was 5-for-5 from the field on his way to 12 points.
Glenville State's Reggie Williams had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Pioneers (18-10).
Charleston shot a sparkling 62 percent from the field in the second half and 51 percent for the game. Glenville State hit just 38 percent from the field and was just 3-of-19 (16 percent) from behind the arc.
After a close first that had Charleston in front by just four at 34-30, UC’s lead remained narrow until the 18:08 mark when the Golden Eagles went on an 18-5 run over the next seven minutes to grab 58-41 lead. The Pioneers were never able to make a push down the stretch and UC claimed the 72-56 victory.
Semifinal 2: West Liberty Holds Off Fairmont State
West Liberty 97, Fairmont State 87
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West Liberty Postgame Press Conference (MP3) | Fairmont State Postgame Press Conference (MP3)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Liberty built a big first half lead and then held off a second half charge from Fairmont State to defeat the Falcons, 97-87, on Saturday night in hte Mountain East Conference semifinals.
WLU (26-2) advances to take on Charleston in the Mountain East Conference finals at 3:30 p.m.
The 'Toppers were led by C.J. Hester who had 25 points and six rebounds. Cedric Harris netted 24 and pulled down eight rebounds.
Fairmont State (20-10) was paced by 24 points from Stevie Browning. Chase Morgan drained six three-pointers, all in the second half, to help spark the Falcon rally.
West Liberty forced 18 turnovers in the game -- 14 of which came in the first half -- and had a 37-2 advantage in points off of turnovers.
WLU started quickly and led by as many as 19 points in the first half. The Falcons, though, battled back and cut it to 77-75 with 6:26 to left after a Morgan three-pointer. Bubby Goodwin answered with a three of his own, and then held off Fairmont State's rally. Hester hit a pair of free throws, and Harris converted a three-point play to put the 'Toppers up 87-80 with 2:08 to go and put the game away.