jahmere howze
Urbana Athletics
62
UU UU 12-17
76
Winner UC UC 15-14
UU UU
12-17
62
Final
76
UC UC
15-14
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UU UU 26 36 62
UC UC 36 40 76

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Derrick Blyberg, Sports Information Director

Urbana Falls in MEC 1st Round to Charleston, 76-62

Blue Knights finish season 12-17 overall

CHARLESTON, W. Va. - Jahmere Howze produced 18 points and career-high 18 rebounds in Wednesday night's matchup against eighth-seeded Charleston in the opening round of the 2017 Mountain East Conference Tournament, but No. 9 seed Urbana University men's basketball came up short 76-62 inside the Charleston Civic Center.

UU caps the season with a 12-17 overall ledger, which is the best turnaround in 52 years of Blue Knight basketball after improving by 10 wins from a year ago.

The Blue Knights entered Wednesday's postseason contest averaging the most points by a UU squad since 2002-03 (83.6 PPG), but the Charleston defense proved successful in forcing the worst UU shooting performance of the year. The Blue Knights finished 30 percent overall from the field as they were held to their lowest point total of the season. Also, UU went just 3 of 23 from beyond the arc (13 percent).

Howze paced the Blue Knights while securing the fourth-most rebounds in a MEC Tournament game. The sophomore forward finished 6 of 15 from the field and hauled nine boards each on the offensive and defensive ends en route to his third double-double. DeQuan Abrom (nine rebounds) and Carlas Jackson also reached double figures in the scoring column with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Charleston's Elliott Cole led all scorers with 28 points on 10-of-22 shooting while three others scored double digits for the Golden Eagles. Justin Coleman produced a double-double for UC with 11 points and 14 boards. The Golden Eagles shot 58 percent in the second half to extend a 10-point halftime lead to as much as 22 in the final stanza. UC finished 50 percent from the field overall, despite only making one 3-pointer (1-8).

UU led for the early portion of the game, including a five-point advantage at the first media timeout. Later on, Abrom's layup at the 5:43 mark of the first half put UU ahead 21-20, but the Golden Eagles would respond with a pivotal run.

UC ignited a 16-5 spurt to close the half with a 36-26 lead, while the Blue Knights closed the frame by missing six consecutive shot attempts. UU would never recover and trailed by at least 10 points the entire second half.

After the Golden Eagles built a 59-37 advantage, UU patched together a quiet 9-0 run to gain some momentum. Charles Sweatt-Washington's jumper at the 9:02 mark left in the game made the score 59-46; however, UU couldn't sustain enough offense to keep it going.  

Both teams had 18 turnovers while Urbana held the slight edge on the glass 45-41.

UU remains winless in four MEC Tournament appearances and fell to 0-12 against the Golden Eagles in the all-time series between the two schools.



 
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