CHARLESTON, W. Va. – The Frostburg State Men's Basketball team dropped a 78-68 decision on the road to Charleston (WV) on Wednesday evening.
Junior Jaden Baker put up the early offense for FSU, trading baskets with the hosts up to a 6-6 tie before back-to-back threes put UC up by six. After a lay-in from graduate Eric Sondberg, yet another Golden Eagle trey kept their momentum going, but Baker hit a pair at the charity stripe and redshirt freshman Blake Burrows took advantage of an offensive board from redshirt senior Naphtali Regilus to get back within 15-12.
Over a nearly six-minute stretch, Burrows had the only points for Frostburg during an 18-3 Charleston run that put them ahead 33-15. Freshman Kadon Fossett finally broke through with a make from deep, then Baker caught fire in the final four minutes, pouring in nine of the Bobcats' final ten points, including a layup with just five seconds left in the half to go into the break at 39-28.
Each team traded triples to start the second period, with Burrows scoring his first before a Baker drive to the rim, though UC still led by 15. Trying to fashion enough offense for a comeback, Burrows made a pair of threes either side of a Baker trip to the line, getting FSU within 53-45. The Golden Eagles responded with a 9-1 run to go up 16, which senior Koby Baptiste immediately answered with a make from distance and layup, followed by Baker getting a pull-up jumper to fall to pull the deficit back to nine.
Charleston did their damage from behind the arc and at the charity stripe, scoring the next six points and being able to hold off Baker and Burrows' next eight to maintain a double-digit lead. Down the stretch, the UC lead proved to be too much to overcome within the final two minutes, as Baptiste split at the line and sophomore Vilius Slanina put back his own miss to get within eight, but an and-one from the Golden Eagles put them over the line with a 78-68 final.
Baker poured in a game-high 30 points, with Burrows setting a new career-high with 18 to go with nine boards.
With the loss, Frostburg drops to 2-6 on the year, while Charleston improves to 5-3. The Bobcats return to action on Saturday, December 7 where they will host West Virginia State at 4 p.m. Information and updates will be posted to frostbugsports.com.
