Men's Basketball | 3/3/2018 10:09:00 PM

Box Score

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The University of Charleston battled back from a 23-point first-half deficit to shock top-seeded and No. 8-ranked West Liberty, 95-93, in overtime here Saturday night in a Mountain East Conference Tournament semifinal thriller at the Civic Center Coliseum.
    The Golden Eagles' (18-12) Austin Howard hit the tying and go-ahead free throws with just 8.8 seconds left in the extra period and a late 3-point attempt by the Hilltoppers (26-3) refused to fall, preserving Charleston's stunning comeback win.
    Shaq Speights added a free throw for UC with a second on the clock to end the scoring.
    "We didn't play a very good second half and that's on me," WLU head coach Ben Howlett said. "But give Charleston credit. They never ever quit, even when they were down by 23 points. That's the sign of a good coach and a good team."
    No one in the cavernous arena saw this result coming in the first half as West Liberty picked up right where it had left off in Friday's 133-106 quarterfinal blowout of West Virginia State.
    Charleston grabbed an early 8-2 lead but West Liberty came storming back and seemed in complete command by the 10-minute mark. Brandon Smith capped a 15-0 Hilltopper run with a fast break layup to put the defending tournament champions on top, 27-12, and the Black and Gold kept right on rolling.
    Dalton Bolon put the lid on another extended WLU surge with a 4-point-play after being fouled while draining a 3-point bomb and West Liberty seemed well on its way to Sunday's title game, leading 50-27 with 3:04 still showing on the first half clock.
    "As I said, I'll take the blame for this," Howlett said. "I think we were up by 23 at the last media timeout but I went a little crazy with our substitution pattern and (Charleston) cut the lead to 11 points at the half."
    Bolon and two-time All-MEC standout Dan Monteroso had 21 and 15 points, respectively, for West Liberty as the Hilltoppers took a 52-41 advantage into the locker room but it was a different story when play resumed.
    "We were getting some good looks in the first half and the shots were dropping," Bolon said. "In the second half, I don't think our energy level was as good, especially on the press, and we couldn't get the shots to go down."
    Howlett agreed.
    "We didn't play very well in the second half but Charleston had a lot to do with that," he said. "They played much better defense really and made everything tough on us. No one got open looks."
    The Golden Eagles slowly chipped away at the deficit for the first 10 minutes of the second half, getting it down to 69-67 on a pair of Kier Anderson free throws with 10:41 left in regulation. The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes before UC took its first lead of the half, 80-79, on an Anderson 3-pointer with 5:07 to play.
    After several defensive stands, West Liberty took an 84-82 lead on a Monteroso dunk off a feed from Eric Meininger with 1:14 to go. Charleston's Ke'Andre Gibson missed the back end of a 1-and-1 and Monteroso powered to the hoop again for an 86-83 WLU lead with 39 ticks remaining.
    The Hilltoppers nearly forced a turnover on UC's ensuing possession but the Golden Eagles recovered the ball in the backcourt and found Anderson for a step-back 3-pointer to tie the game, 86-86, with 21 seconds to go. West Liberty couldn't answer and the game went to overtime.
    Momentum changed hands several times in the extra period but the Hilltoppers took their last lead with 59 seconds left when Jordan Watson was fouled while finishing off a drive to the hoop and sank the free throw for a 93-92 advantage.
    Charleston's Lamont McManus missed both ends of a 2-shot foul with 39 seconds to go but West Liberty misfired at the other end and Howard was fouled at the rim with 8.8 seconds left, setting up the game-winning foul tosses.
    Monteroso just missed a double-double with 29 points and 9 rebounds while Bolon added 23 points and Smith came off the bench to add 18 points in a strong performance. Anderson led all scorers with a career-high 30 points for Charleston while McManus had a double-double with 17 points and 11 boards.
    "I know one thing. We're not done playing yet," Howlett said, noting that the Hilltoppers expect to receive an at-large bid to next week's Atlantic Regional tournament. "Four years ago we lost to Charleston here in the tournament but bounced back the following week to win the regional and wound up going all the way to the national championship game.
    "We're going to learn from this loss, get back in the gym and get back to work. We will come back as a better basketball team in the regional. We will be dialed in and ready to go."