SALEM, West Virginia- As the snow continued to fall, the Salem Tigers men's basketball team was back in action at home. This time against the University of Charleston Golden Eagles on Saturday evening. Salem was looking to kick off the home stand right with a big win over Charleston. Unfortunately, the Golden Eagles would end up prevailing in a close 90-85 win over the Tigers. 

In the first half, Charleston got off to an early 11-8 lead with 16 minutes remaining. However, the Tigers would jump ahead to a 15-13 lead after a three pointer from Jalen Barnes. Salem would hold a 23-18 lead with 10 minutes left in the half after a few triples from Isaac James and Jalen Barnes. Both teams would trade buckets back and forth across the next 5 minutes. The game was knotted up at 28 with 5 minutes remaining in the half. Salem would close out the half with a 40-37 after Derrick Jones Jr. hit a jumper before time expired. 

In the second half, the Tigers would get off to a quick start extending their lead to 50-44 at the 14:46 mark after a Tyree Davis triple. However, Charleston would go on a run to tie the game back up at 56 with 9 minutes left. Across the next few minutes, Charleston would get the defense going as they went on a 10-3 run. The Golden Eagles now held a 66-59 lead with just over 6 minutes remaining. Daquan Coleman and Kevin Constant would both knock down a three to cut the lead to 2. Salem would tie it back up after Kevin Constant hit 2 free throws. With 3 minutes left, the game was deadlocked at 70. Both teams were going back and forth but the score was still knotted up, this time at 75. Unfortunately, the Golden Eagles would close out the game by making 5 free throws and holding the Tigers scoreless in the final minute. Charleston ended up securing a close 80-75 victory over Salem.

On the stats sheet, Daquan Coleman led all tigers with 20 points on 8/14 from the field. Derrick Jones Jr. flirted with a double-double scoring 9 points and 11 rebounds. Jalen Barnes and Tyree Davis both had 10 points to round out the double-digit scorers.

After a close loss, the Tigers will look to regroup and prepare for their next contest. Salem's next match up will be on January 15^th at 7:30 PM at home vs Frostburg State University.