CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia State saw its five-game winning streak come to an end with an 80-66 road loss to Charleston on Saturday at the Wherle Innovation Center. The Yellow Jackets will enter next week's Mountain East Conference Tournament as the No. 5 seed.

WVSU falls to 15-12, 11-9 in MEC contests. UC improves to 18-9, 14-6 in MEC action.

Charleston opened the game with a 4-0 run before Miguel Martinez got WVSU on the board with a layup. Arthur Cox kept State within striking distance with a fast-break layup, cutting the deficit to 7-5. Charleston maintained a narrow lead behind outside shooting, as CJ Meredith connected on multiple jumpers. Cox and Martinez provided early scoring for WVSU, but the Golden Eagles built a double-digit lead midway through the half. WVSU trimmed the deficit to single digits behind free throws from Cox and Jae Slack, closing the half down 37-31.

The Yellow Jackets opened the second half with an 8-2 run to tie the game at 39, fueled by a three-pointer from Slack and a layup by Martinez. Kenyon Giles converted two free throws to briefly even the score, but Charleston answered with a quick five-point run to retake control. The Golden Eagles capitalized on turnovers to extend their lead, with Dwaine Jones and Matthew Shelton converting in transition. State struggled to find offensive consistency, shooting just 31.4% in the second half. Despite efforts from Cox and Giles, Charleston maintained its lead down the stretch.

Cox led WVSU with 21 points, shooting 8-of-11 from the free-throw line, while Martinez added 11 points. Nate Mims contributed nine points and five rebounds. WVSU shot 33.8% from the field and struggled from three-point range, hitting just 4-of-23 attempts. Charleston outrebounded State 49-33 and shot 47.7% from the floor.

The loss drops WVSU to 15-12 overall and 11-9 in conference play. The Yellow Jackets will look to bounce back in the MEC Tournament and will face fourth-seeded Concord on Friday at 8:30 p.m. in Wheeling.