Box Score Cardinals Fall To Hilltoppers
 
WHEELING, W. Va. – The Wheeling Jesuit Basketball team was overpowered by the #4 West Liberty Hilltoppers 50-70 in their final game of the regular season on Saturday up the hill at West Liberty.
 
The Cardinals head into the Mountain East playoffs as the #7 seed in the conference with a 14-12 overall record (11-11 MEC).
 
Justin Fritts led the Cardinals with 12 points in a game where no player scored more than 13 points. Fritts was only one assist and two rebounds away from a triple-double, pulling down eight boards and dishing out nine assists, more gives than any other player in the game.
 
Also scoring in double-digits for the Cardinals was freshman Kyle Ritz who put in 10 buckets and pulled down eight boards. Eric Siefert also had 10 points, again playing virtually the entire game with 39 minutes.
 
The entire Cardinal bench only contributed eight points however. Compare that to West Liberty's 37 points off the bench, and the WJU depth became a major factor in the loss.
 
WJU suffered a cold night shooting, making an icy 31-percent of their shots from the field. The Cardinals were able to hit the long ball however, draining 8-12 shots from behind the arc to go 66-percent on the night.
 
With the regular season in the books, the Cardinals look ahead to the first round of the playoffs where they will host the MEC's #10 team, the Virginia-Wise Cavaliers. The game will be played in Wheeling at the McDonough Center on Tuesday evening, tipping off at 7:30. The winner of that game will head to the conference quarterfinals in Charleston.
 
Final MEC Standings
#1 West Liberty
#2 Charleston
#3 Glenville State
#4 Fairmont State
#5 West Virginia Wesleyan
#6 Shepherd
#7 Wheeling Jesuit
#8 WV State
#9 Notre Dame
#10 UVa-Wise
#11 Concord
#12 Urbana