Box Score WHEELING, W.Va. – For the third straight game, the Wheeling Jesuit men's basketball team was within arm's reach of posting a solid victory over a strong conference opponent, only to fall in the dying minutes; this time dropping a 78-74 decision to West Virginia Wesleyan after being up with only minute to play.
 
The Cardinals now sit at .500 overall on the season at 6-6, and fall to 4-5 in Mountain East Conference play.
 
"Rebounding and preventing teams from getting off big shots continues to be a problem for us," said WJU head coach Danny Sancomb. "We're going to continue to focus on those things at practice and work on improving."
 
The Cardinals took a 36-34 lead headed into halftime, and at the time the rebound count was tied at 16. Tim Goff had a strong opening half, putting up 13 points followed closely by Eric Siefert who had 10. The Cardinals were also able to out-shoot the Bobcats 48%-40% from the floor, going 13-27.
 
Thorough out the evening, both teams traded blows, with a total of seven lead changes in the game. Cardinals took the lead with only 1:30 remaining at 69-68 before the Wesleyan's TJ Thompson added a layup for two of his game-high 28 points to put the Bobcats up over the Cardinals, where they would stay until the final buzzer. The final rebound count favored WVWC 32-24.
 
Leading for the Cardinals were team stalwarts Eric Siefert who totaled 20 points and seven rebounds. Justin Fritts was 3-5 from 3-point land and 7-13 from the field for 19 points.
 
Up next, WJU faces a tough challenge at home on Saturday when they face the Mountain East's second place team, Shepherd.