Box Score Fairmont, W.Va.---The Wheeling Jesuit men's basketball team survived a late scoring outburst by Fairmont State University, the second place team in the WVIAC, en route to a 70-65 victory at Joe Retton Arena. With the win, Jesuit improved to 12-8 overall and 9-7 in league play while Fairmont fell to 15-5 overall and 13-3 in the WVIAC.
 
Ben Siefert paced the Cardinals with a team-high 19 points and eight rebounds, and Joe Prati followed with 15 points and five rebounds. Justin Fritts and Recardo Gaddy rounded out the double-digit scoring performances with 12 and 11, respectively. Eric Siefert added seven points and six rebounds.
 
The initial four minutes of Monday evening's game was back-and-forth, featuring three tied scores and one lead change. At 14:47, Ben Siefert sparked a 6-0 run with a layup and Darin Harris followed with two buckets, 15-9. A pair of free throws by Fairmont ended the run; however, Gaddy connected from deep to push the WJU lead back to eight points, 19-11.
 
The Falcons battled back, narrowing the Cardinal lead to just two points, 25-23. Jesuit immediately pushed the lead back to eight points with a layup by Eric Siefert and three free throws by Ben Siefert, 35-27. Jesuit ended the half with a 7-2 run for a 42-29 halftime lead.
 
After the break, Wheeling Jesuit controlled a double-digit advantage for 13 minutes, leading by as many as 15 points, 61-46. At the seven minute mark, Chase Morgan connected with a long range jumper which sparked a 13-0 Falcon run. Fairmont erased a 15-point deficit and established a one point, 64-63, advantage with 3:36 remaining in the game. After a Wheeling Jesuit timeout, the Cardinals immediately regained the lead when Eric Siefert found Fritts for a lay-in.
 
After the Falcons split a pair of free throws to tie the game at 65 apiece, Ben Siefert lifted the Cardinals to a 68-65 advantage with an old-fashioned 3-point play with 38 seconds left on the clock. Fairmont's attempt to tie the game was off-target and WJU's Eric Siefert grabbed the defensive rebound. The Falcons immediately fouled Siefert, who buried both free throws and secured the 70-65 Cardinal victory.
 
Isaiah Hill and Isaac Thornton led the Falcons with 16 points apiece, and Morgan followed with 10 points.
 
The Cardinals shot a blistering 60 percent from the field in the first half, connecting with 15-of-25 shots from the floor. WJU followed with an 11-for-26 (42 percent) shooting performance in the second half, finishing 51 percent from the floor at 26-for-51. In addition, the Cardinals were 14-for-17 (82 percent) from the charity stripe.
 
Wheeling Jesuit will be back in action at the Alma Grace McDonough Center on Saturday, February 9 against Davis and Elkins College. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.