GLENVILLE, W.Va. (Nov. 19) - The Wheeling Jesuit University men's basketball team nearly erased a 19-point second half deficit, but came up short in a 117-113 loss at Glenville State Monday night in a Mountain East Conference (MEC) game Monday night at the Waco Center.

The loss sends the Cardinals to 0-4 overall, 0-2 in the MEC. Meanwhile, the Pioneers improve to 1-1 in league play 4-1 overall.

Wheeling Jesuit trailed 83-64 with 13 minutes left in the game. The Cardinals went on to out-score Glenville State 49-to-31 over the next 12 minutes, capped off by a three pointer by freshman guard Franck Kamgain (Kansas City, Mo./DME Sports Academy), to pull within one at 114-113 with 20 seconds left in the game. After a Pioneer timeout, freshman guard Jay Gentry (Milwaukee, Wisc./Brown Deer) stole the in-bound pass and kicked the ball out to Kamgain for a potential go-ahead trey, but the ball rimmed out. Glenville State got the ball back and knocked down a trio of free throws to hold off the Cardinals comeback efforts. 

Gentry led four Wheeling Jesuit players in double-figures with 36 points on 12 of 20 (60 percent) shooting, including 5-of-8 from long range. Sophomore Brendan Hoban (Watertown, Mass./Millbrook School) finished with 25 points and eight assists. Kamgain tallied 24 points and four steals, while freshman Tariq Woody (Canton, Mich./Novi) chipped in 28 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

The Cardinals tied the game at 10-10 on a Gentry three pointer less than four minutes into the game. The Pioneers went on a 13-2 run to open up a 23-12 lead, but Wheeling Jesuit responded with an 11-4 spurt of its own to narrow the gap to 27-23 with 9:46 remaining in the first half. Glenville State got hot from long range, converting four-straight three pointers to re-establish a double-digit lead at 40-25 with 7:15 left in the first half. The Pioneers led by as many as 19 points, before the Cardinals closed the half on a 7-2 run to enter the locker rooms trailing 57-43.

Glenville State maintained a double-digit lead and rebuilt its lead to 19, 83-64, with 13:08 left in the game. Wheeling Jesuit then enjoyed its best stretch of the night, out-scoring the Pioneers 39-25 over the next 10 minutes to draw within five, 108-103, with 2:56 left in the game. The Cardinals shot 14 of 21 (66 percent) from the field with six three pointers during the run, with Hoban scoring 19 of his 25 points in the game over that stretch.

The Cardinals shot 27 of 44 (62 percent) in the second half after posting 19 of 40 (48 percent) in the first half. All eight of the team's trips to the free-throw line came in the second half.

Five Pioneers scored in double-digits, led by Darhius Nunn, who finished with 42 points and 16 assists to lead Glenville State to the win. Phil Bledsoe added 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Pioneers.

Wheeling Jesuit returns to the McDonough Center on Saturday, November 24 for a non-conference game against Virginia State (2-2) at 4 p.m.