URBANA, Ohio (Dec. 1) - Despite a double-double from freshman forward
Tariq Woody (Canton, Mich./Novi), the Cardinals were handed a 77-73 loss at Urbana in a Mountain East Conference (MEC) game Saturday afternoon.
The Wheeling Jesuit University men's basketball team falls to 0-7 this season, 0-4 in the MEC. Meanwhile, the Blue Knights 1-3 in league play, 2-5 overall.
Woody established new season highs with 25 points and 18 rebounds in the loss. Freshman guard
Franck Kamgain (Kansas City, Mo./DME Sports Academy) chipped in 20 points for the Cardinals.
A layup by freshman guard
Jay Gentry (Milwaukee, Wisc./Brown Deer) at the 15:21-mark of the first half gave WJU a 14-7 lead early in the game. Urbana went on to out-score the Cards 17-8 over the next five minutes to establish a 24-22 lead with 10:20 remaining in the first half. The game remained within two possessions for the remainder of the period, before the Blue Knights took a 40-38 lead into halftime.
Wheeling Jesuit started the second half strong. The Cardinals went on an 11-2 run, capped off with a Kamgain trey, to take a 49-42 lead with 15:38 left in the game. Urbana rallied to take the lead at 55-54 just over four minutes later, as both teams traded the lead over the six minutes. WJU established its largest advantage of the final 10 minutes at 67-63 following a Gentry layup with 5:27 remaining on the clock. Urbana responded with a scoring spurt to tie the game at 69 with 2:45 left in the game.
The Cardinals were unable to connect on their next two possessions, allowing Urbana to build a 74-69 lead with 36 seconds remaining in the contest. A layup by Gentry closed the gap to one possession, but a WJU turnover and missed shot in the closing seconds enabled the Blue Knights to hold on for the win.
Wheeling Jesuit struggled from the charity stripe, converting 8-of-15 (53 percent) of its attempts. The Cardinals held a 35-to-32 edge on the glass.
WJU will return home on Wednesday, December 5 when they continue MEC play with a game versus Fairmont State inside the McDonough Center at 7:30 p.m.