Men's Basketball

Slow Start Dooms Charleston
February 3, 2006

By Michael Dailey
Sportswriter, Charleston Daily Mail

University of Charleston Coach Greg White was happy with his team's play Thursday evening.

The last 25 minutes, that is.

Unfortunately for White, his team's play in the first 20 minutes was much less desirable and ultimately led to a disappointing 91-89 overtime loss to Concord in an important West Virginia Conference matchup at Eddie King Gym.

The loss dropped Charleston to 13-6 overall and 7-3 in conference play, while Concord improved to 11-8 and 7-3.

"We just had to come out and play," said White. "We weren't competing in the first half and that, alone, cost us the game. Our first half performance cost us the game.

"In the second half, we fought. We worked hard and we competed. But there again, you've got to compete for 40 minutes. I thought we competed for about 25 minutes."

The Golden Eagles, who never led in the first half, fell behind 6-0 in the game's first 2 1/2 minutes and trailed, 35-31, at the half.

Charleston battled back in the second half and took its first lead of the evening, 42-41, on a 3-point play by Marquis Brooks with 14:44 to play.

Brooks led Charleston with 25 points, including 22 in the second half, while senior guard Robert Siwo added 21 points off the bench.

Richard Hampton (14 points, 13 rebounds) and Robert Strickland (11 points, 11 rebounds) added double-doubles for UC.

After trading leads for the next three minutes, the Golden Eagles built their lead to as many as nine points the last time at 66-57 with 5:24 left.

But, for the second time this week, Concord battled back from a late-game deficit to force overtime and eventually sneak away with the win.

Concord erased a six-point deficit with only 11 seconds to play in an overtime win against conference leader Alderson-Broaddus on Monday.

"I'm really pleased with our effort," said veteran Concord Coach Steve Cox. "We've had some things break our way the last two games.

"We've lost several close games this year, that we really could have won. We just didn't get breaks at the end.

"We lost at Fairmont on a last-second shot and, then, we lost a home game to Glenville by two or three points. Had we taken care of business there, we'd only have one conference loss and we'd be tied with A-B. But I'll take the position we're in."

Concord was led by Tyrone Anderson's 26 points and 15 rebounds, while Camille Leach chipped in with 17 points and 10 boards.

Brian Foster and Kent McBride added 20 and 14 points for Concord, respectively.

A pair of free throws by Anderson with only six seconds to play provided Concord's winning margin, after Siwo had tied the game with two free throws six seconds earlier.

"We had the lead, but we just made too many mistakes," said White. "We had missed free throws and we had key turnovers. We just didn't play very maturely.

"It was a hard fought game and you've got to give Concord a lot of credit. They played their hearts out and they played with a lot of poise, but if you let it come down to one play, as we did, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose."