Box Score
Click photo above to hear audio of post-game press conference
 
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The #7 Wheeling Jesuit Cardinals pushed the #2 University of Charleston to overtime before falling 91-85 in an thrilling Mountain East Conference quarterfinal on Friday.
 
WJU finishes their season 15-13 overall (11-11 MEC). Nine of those 13 losses for the Cardinals came by 10 points or less. Charleston advances on to face Glenville State in the MEC Semifinal on Saturday.
 
The Cardinals were sparked by a game high 22-points from senior Andre Harris, playing his final game in a red jersey. Three of those points came at the end of regulation when he was on the receiving end of a Charleston turnover, and took the ball coast-to-coast to the rim where he was fouled on the layup to start one of the game's most exciting sequences.
 
Harris' layup was good and the Cardinals went up by two with the free throw to come. Harris made the shot from the line to put WJU up by three with 21 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Charleston's Xavier Humphrey drained a three with 15 seconds left, and the game went to overtime.
 
"We came out expecting to win. We really did," said WJU head coach Dan Sancomb. "We've got a really good team this year. You could take five or six plays from the season turn them the other way and we're probably 23-4, or 23-5. A little disappointing not to win because I thought we played a pretty good game."
 
Also playing a big role for the Cardinals was Mountain East all-conference first teamer Eric Siefert who had a double-double with 19 points and 10 assists. Justin Fritts went scoreless in the first half, but finished the game with 18 points and six assists.
 
Freshman Kyle Ritz had a big day on the boards, pulling down 13 rebounds and putting in seven points, only three away from what would have been his seventh double-double of the season.
 
Rebounds would be a key factor the game however. While Ritz pulled down 13, the Cardinals were still outrebounded by UC 44-30.
 
The Cardinals suffered slightly slow start to the game, falling down 13-0 before Tim Goff, Ritz, and Siefert all drained threes to put the Cards on the board 13-9.
 
Later in the half, WJU took the lead when Siefert drained a three for one of the game's 14 lead changes. UC regained the lead however, and went into the halftime break up 40-34 when UC's Mikey Newsome hit a three as time expired.
 
The second half was all back and forth between the two teams until Harris' three-point play was matched by UC's Humphrey to send the game to overtime.
 
In the extra period, the Cardinals couldn't get the shots they needed while UC did a good job of controlling the possession and managing the clock to score 15 points over the Cardinals nine to take the 91-85 victory.
 
The Cardinals wrap up their Mountain East season with only one loss (Harris) on a young team that returns only three juniors. WJU may not have played their final game of the year however, with Coach Sancomb looking at the possibility of an invite to the ECAC post-season tournament.