CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The perimeter shooting woes continued for No. 9-ranked West Liberty here Saturday as Charleston survived a late WLU spurt to claim a 78-74 Mountain East Conference victory at Wehrle Arena.
    It was the third straight loss for Coach Ben Howlett's Hilltoppers (4-3), who led by as many as 13 points midway through the first half only to find themselves trying to battle back from their own double-digit deficit against the upset-minded Golden Eagles (6-2).
    West Liberty was in control for most of the opening half, taking its largest lead of the game, 30-17, on a Pat Robinson layup at the 9:08 mark.
    Charleston closed to 43-37 at intermission but the Hilltoppers still seemed to have things well in hand when a Malik McKinney free throw pushed their advantage to 53-44 with 14:31 to play.
    That's when the wheels came off for the Black and Gold as a series of unforced turnovers led to a nightmarish 9-minute span that saw the Golden Eagles flip the script with a 24-6 burst to go up 68-58 with less than six minutes remaining.
    One of the top teams in the nation in turnover margin, the Hilltoppers had more turnovers (7) than shots (6) during that stretch but they weren't finished yet.
    Robinson hit a pair of free throws and Luke Dyer knocked the lid off the basket with a 3-point bomb as WLU hit the comeback trail with just under five minutes to go.
    Marlon Moore Jr. slammed home a Dyer miss with 2:03 on the clock to pull West Liberty within a point, 71-70, and the Hilltoppers gave themselves a chance to take the lead with a big defensive stop.
    Unfortunately, the Black and Gold missed a pair of free throws and Charleston's Riley Heatherington cashed in a conventional 3-point play at the other end for a 74-70 UC lead in the final minute.
    West Liberty got off three shots on the ensuing possession but couldn't get any of them to fall and had to foul with 19 seconds left. Charleston missed both free throws and Robinson sailed coast-to-coast for a layup, cutting the lead to 74-72, but UC went 4-for-4 from the line in the final 10 seconds to close it out.
    Dalton Bolon and Robinson led the Hilltoppers with 19 and 17 points, respectively, while Will Yoakum added 14 more. West Liberty hit just 7-of-22 3-point shots on the day and was just 1-for-10 from the arc after intermission.
    Lamont McManus and Eddie Colbert tossed in 18 points each for the hosts while Keith Williams added 15 and Seth O'Neal finished with 10.
    The road doesn't get any easier for the Hilltoppers as they return home to host unbeaten Glenville State on Monday in a make-up game from earlier this month. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. inside the ASRC.