NCAA  Division 2  Mens Basketball Regional At West Liberty

 

Wheeling Jesuit 79, No. 17 Charleston 76
   

   The No. 6-seeded Cardinals (22-9) survived a late flurry by the No. 3-seeded Golden Eagles (26-7) to earn the first NCAA Tournament win in school history.
    After trailing for most of the game, Charleston hit four consecutive 3-pointers during a 12-3 run to forge a 76-76 tie with 1:07 remaining.
    Joe Prati made 1-of-2 free throws with 32 seconds left for a 77-76 Wheeling Jesuit lead and Charleston called timeout to set up for a potential game-winner.
    The Golden Eagles tried to hit WVIAC Player of the Year PJ Reyes with a lob at the rim but the Cardinals’ Steve Catich read the play and knocked the ball away. Obi Ukwuoma was fouled after grabbing the deflection and Ukwuoma – a 46-percent free throw shooter – knocked down both foul tosses for a 79-76 lead with 11 ticks remaining.
    Charleston had one last chance to force overtime but Xavier Humphrey’s 3-point try clanged off the iron and out of bounds at time expired.
    Catich paced the winners with 24 points and 8 rebounds while Prati added a dozen points off the bench.
    Humphrey poured in a career-high 32 points for UC – including a 7-of-14 showing from the 3-point line – while Evan Faulkner chipped in with 14 points. Reyes was shut out in the second half and finished with 7 points on the afternoon.

 

No. 3 West Liberty 119, East Stroudsburg 82      The top-seeded Hilltoppers (30-2) jetted out to a double-digit lead in the first 5 minutes and went on to blast the No. 8-seeded Warriors (20-12) in a rematch of the WVIAC and PSAC Tournament champions.
    East Stroudsburg had battled West Liberty to the wire before dropping a 96-92 decision in a mutual season opener on Nov. 12 but the Hilltoppers wasted little time removing any suspense from Saturday’s matchup.
    West Liberty opened up a 12-2 lead on a Cedric Harris jumper as the first-half clock ticked past the 15-minute mark and pushed the count to 26-12 on a deep Tim Hausfeld 3-pointer at 10:05.
    The margin never dropped below double-digits the rest of the night as the Hilltoppers opened up a whopping 64-36 halftime lead. Head coach Jim Crutchfield began pulling his starters at the 11-minute mark of the second half as the lead grew as high as 39 points down the stretch.
    Harris led eight double-figure scorers for the winners with 21 points and 9 assists – both game-highs. Hausfeld and Alex Falk added 15 and 14 points, respectively, while fellow starters C.J. Hester and Chris Morrow chimed in with a dozen each. Keene Cockburn tossed in 13 off the bench while Shawn Dyer (12) and Mike Lopez (11) also hit double-figures in a reserve role.
    Senior Eric Bryan led five double-figure scorers for East Stroudsburg with 15 points.