FAIRMONT, W.Va. (Jan. 30) - The Wheeling Jesuit University men's basketball team was defeated 88-64 at Fairmont State Wednesday night in a Mountain East Conference (MEC) game at Joe Retton Arena.

The loss sends the Cardinals to 1-12 in the MEC, 2-17 overall. Meanwhile, the Falcons improve to 15-5 this season, 12-1 in conference play.

Freshman DeAndre Robinson (Monroeville, Ala./Monroe County) led the team with 17 points and six rebounds. Freshman guard Jay Gentry (Milwaukee, Wisc./Brown Deer) added 12 points, while fellow freshman guard Steve Cannady (Bowie, Md./St. Vincent Palotti) added 10 points in the loss.

Both teams traded baskets through the first eight minutes of the game, before a trey by freshman Emmanual Ansong (Bordentown, N.J./Canterbury School) gave the Cardinals a 19-16 lead with 11:18 left in the first half. Fairmont State responded with an 11-3 run to take a 30-21 lead five minutes later, before WJU answered back with a 11-2 spurt of its own to knot the game back up at 32-32 with 3:42 remaining until halftime. The runs continued as the Falcons opened up a eight-point lead at the half by closing the period out on a 10-2 run to take a 42-34 lead into the break.

Fairmont State extended its lead to 52-39 in the opening three minutes of the second half. Wheeling Jesuit followed with its best stretch of the game when it went on a 15-4 run to draw within two, 56-54, with 10:47 left in the game. The Cardinals shot 6-of-10 during the run and limited the Falcons to 2-of-9 from the field. Fairmont State did not allow WJU to get any closer and went on to out-score the Cardinals 32-10 down the stretch to take command of the game and close out the win.

Vonte Montgomery led four players in double-figures with 22 points to lead the Falcons.

The Cardinals will return home on Saturday, February 2 when they welcome Shepherd to the McDonough Center for a MEC game at 4 p.m.