FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State Men's basketball team fell to the University of Charleston (WV) at home on Wednesday night by a final of 71-53.

Winning the jump ball and scoring the first basket in the matchup junior Jason Murphy was off to a powerful start, but the Golden Eagles quickly answered back and scored the next seven points. Some good defense from senior Agyei Edwards would force a UC turnover, from which FSU capitalized and scored two back-to-back jump shots, making the score 6-7. Frostburg took the lead in the 13th minute when Murphy finished a pass from senior Jaylon Johnson. Once again, Charleston answered back, hitting back-to-back threes before Eddie Colbert III went three-for-three from the free throw line after being fouled from behind the arc.

Frostburg turned up the heat in the 14th minute with a full court press, but the Golden Eagles passed the ball through the press with ease, going on a sixteen-point run. After the run, Edwards put up six points and Murphy added four more. Although Frostburg had high energy throughout the half, the shots weren't falling regularly, as UC went on a 12-point run to go up 30-14 with just over four minutes to go. Murphy got a pair of late baskets to go, while graduates Vincent Smalls and Bo Schene combined for three at the charity stripe to go into the half with FSU in a 32-21 deficit.

Frostburg ended the half winning the battle of the boards, with 15 rebounds to Charleston's 14. The Bobcats pulled down seven offensive rebounds for eight second-chance points; along with seven steals and six points off of those turnovers.

UC's Keith Willams started the second half scoring the first eight points, to which junior Sean Brown, Jr. and Johnson answered back with three-pointers of their own. The Bobcats had the Golden Eagles scrambling on defense in the eighth minute of the half, as all five players on the court possessed the ball more than once, resulting in a wide open three from Brown, Jr. The offense cooled off, however, as over the next four minutes, FSU went scoreless until junior Cole Harshman came in and knocked down a triple. The Bobcats were relentless in the battle, but simply couldn't match Charleston shot-for-shot, as Williams and Colbert took over late on, helping to give UC the 71-53 victory.

Charleston shot 47.4% from the three-point line and pulled down 30 total rebounds in the effort.

Murphy and Edwards provided a majority of the Bobcats' points and rebounds in the contest, with the former having 17 points and nine rebounds, while Edwards had 10 points and five boards, as well as a game-high four steals.

With the loss, Frostburg falls to 5-14, while Charleston improves to 14-5 on the season. The Bobcats will return to action on Saturday, January 28 for a road game against West Virginia State set to begin at 4 p.m. Information and updates will be posted to frostburgsports.com.