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17 mbb highsmith almost dunk
69
Notre Dame College NDC-M 16-11/10-11 MEC
84
Winner Wheeling Jesuit WJU-M 21-6/15-6 MEC
Notre Dame College NDC-M
16-11/10-11 MEC
69
Final
84
Wheeling Jesuit WJU-M
21-6/15-6 MEC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Notre Dame College NDC-M 36 33 69
Wheeling Jesuit WJU-M 47 37 84

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Chris Myers

Highsmith Powers Cardinals Over Falcons

WHEELING, W. Va. – With a thunderous early breakaway slam, Haywood Highsmith set the tone and powered the Wheeling Jesuit men's basketball team over Notre Dame College, 84-69, on Thursday night.
 
Highsmith helped the Cardinals (21-6/15-6 Mountain East Conference) run out to an 8-2 lead and started the second-half spurt for the home cushion the rest of the way.
 
The junior forward finished with 20 points on 7 of 13 from the floor with 15 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the year. He also added five assists and three steals.
 
"Haywood does a little of everything when he is playing well. When he is playing well, we are hard to beat and he came up big (tonight)," stressed WJU head coach Danny Sancomb.
 
The Cardinals enjoyed being at home for the first time since Feb. 4th after five-straight road contests. WJU took advantage of the fact by holding Notre Dame College (16-11/10-11 MEC) to 69 points, 14 points below its average.
 
"I think it was good to be back home. With six of the last seven on the road, it felt good to know we would be here all week and not have to get on a bus. We had a good week of practice. We did not have our best game, but our energy and effort was at a high level tonight," said the Cardinals coach. "It's hard to say we did a good job against (Will) Vorhees (the MEC's leading scorer), but I love the fact we forced him into five turnovers. Dominique Tham and Kyle Ritz did a wonderful job on him and the team holding them to 69 points is a good defensive effort."
 
Along with Highsmith's big night, Preston Boswell came off the bench for 18 points, including a trio of 3-pointers to go with three assists, two blocks and four steals.
 
Jarin Hilson added 15 points with three treys of his own and Dominique Tham had 11 points and four boards.
 
"Preston Boswell was great off the bench as he shot the ball well, closed out and was really good," added Sancomb.
 
The Cardinals also welcomed Drake Goddard back in the lineup as he contributed two triples for six points.
 
"It was great to get Drake back. He is calm, makes shots and gets us in our offense," pointed out Sancomb. "When he was out, I feel Jordan Fair came on so much in the last month and we can rely on him now."
 
Vorhees paced the Falcons with 23 points.
 
After the early WJU 8-2 lead, Notre Dame College bounced back for a 14-11 lead. Boswell answered with a 3-pointer and stared a 7-0 spurt, 18-14, to never trail again over the final 33:32 of the game.
 
The Falcons made one more push in the second half to within four points, 57-53, but again, the Cardinals answered with seven points in a row for the second time, 64-53. The margin dipped under double digits one last time to eight points, before the WJU 84-69 final.
 
WJU completes its regular season with the rivalry contest against West Liberty. The Cardinals 'Senior Day' against the Hilltoppers is scheduled for a 4 p.m. tip.

"We will have to be ready to go Saturday. We need to do the little things as it will be a tough game to score, be gritty and the aggressor. We have to beat them as they don't give many, if any, away," finished Sancomb.

 
-GoCards-
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