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MBB Ritz
78
West Virginia State WVSUM 4-7, 2-4 MEC
100
Winner Wheeling Jesuit WJU-M 12-1, 5-1 MEC
West Virginia State WVSUM
4-7, 2-4 MEC
78
Final
100
Wheeling Jesuit WJU-M
12-1, 5-1 MEC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
West Virginia State WVSUM 40 38 78
Wheeling Jesuit WJU-M 41 59 100

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Chris Myers

Cardinals Race Past Yellow Jackets in Second Half

WHEELING, W.Va. – Trailing by two in the opening minutes of the second half, Wheeling Jesuit rattled off 21 unanswered points and raced past West Virginia State, 100-78, Wednesday night in Mountain East Conference men's basketball.
 
Down 48-46, the No. 22-ranked Cardinals (12-1/5-1 MEC) connected on 7-of-11 shots from the floor and all four their free throws and forced nine misfires in a row by Yellow Jackets (4-7/2-4 MEC) in their game-deciding spurt. Eric Siefert, who had a team-high 20 points, started the run with a 3-pointer and ended it with two free throws as WJU opened a 67-48 lead and coasted home.
 
"It was a good win for us. We played with a lot more energy on both ends of the court in the second half. We shared the ball and moved it well. We also received great contributions from our bigs," said WJU head coach Danny Sancomb. "Defensively, we did a good job holding them to 37-percent from the field and we scored at a high rate. We took care of the ball with only 11 turnovers again tonight."
 
Siefert hit 7-of-14 shots for his 20-point night, but he was not the lone Cardinals outstanding performer.
 
Forwards Kyle Ritz and Haywood Highsmith both posted double-doubled and combined for 35 points, 24 rebounds and eight assists.
 
"Kyle kept us in the game in the first half and Haywood just had a big all-around night," noted Sancomb. "Siefert was very solid and Fritts had a very good offensive night off the bench and continued to be very consistent."
 
Ritz connected on 7-of-9 attempts from the floor for 18 points to go with 11 rebounds for his second double-double. The junior added four assists.
 
Highsmith recorded his third double-double in a row with 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds. He chipped in four assists, three steals and a pair of blocked shots.
 
Fritts made it a fourth WJU double-figure scorer with 14 points and handed out a team-high five helpers.
 
After he netted 20 points in the first half, the WJU defense held West Virginia State's top-point producer Markee Mazyck to seven second-half tallies for 27 total points.
 
The first half saw six lead changes before a Siefert layup with nine seconds gave the Cardinals a 41-40 intermission advantage.
 
After back-to-back Yellow Jacket buckets gave them a 48-46 lead at 17:32, the Cardinals did not miss over the next 5:44. The home team's 21-0 run turned the tide, before it enjoyed an advantage of as many as 26 points, 87-61, with 6:06 left in the contest.
 
The Cardinals hit the century mark for the first time this season after they missed the mark by a point, 99-85, against Virginia Union in the second game of the year on Nov. 15.
 
WJU completes its three-game week with a road game at West Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday, Jan. 10. Tip is set for 4 p.m.

 
-GoCards-
 


 
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