BUCKHANNON, W.Va. (Dec. 7) – Four players scored in double-figures to help the Cardinals earn an 84-70 win at West Virginia Wesleyan Saturday night at the Rockefeller Center in a Mountain East Conference (MEC) contest.
 
The Wheeling University men's basketball team bounces back from a pair of last-second losses to improve to 6-2 on the season, 3-1 in MEC play. Meanwhile, the Bobcats, who were coming off of a stunning 94-91 win at No. 14 West Liberty on Wednesday, fall to 2-7 overall, 2-2 in league play.
 
Junior guard Jordan Reid (Silver Spring, Md./Albert Einstein) posted 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting and added six boards and four assists to lead the team. Junior guard Jarett Haines (Bronx, N.Y./New Rochelle) added 17 points and four assists, while sophomore forward Emmanuel Ansong (Bordentown, N.J./Canterbury School) finished with 16 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Nathan Meriwether (Indianapolis, Ind./Emmerich Manuel) rounded out the scorers with 10 points in the win.
 
There was little separation through the first nine minutes of the game with the score tied at 12. Wheeling controlled the final 11 minutes of the half and built its largest-lead at 14, 37-23, when freshman John Korte (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) knocked down a trey with 2:13 left until halftime.
 
After taking a 39-29 lead into halftime, the Cardinals absolutely dominated the first nine minutes of the second half. Wheeling out-scored West Virginia Wesleyan 24-4 and established a 63-33 lead with 11:35 left in the game.
 
The Bobcats, who erased a 22-point deficit on the road at West Liberty Wednesday night, started to chip away at the Cardinal lead over the next eight minutes and eventually drew within 11, 68-57, with 3:29 remaining on the clock.
 
A quick timeout by Head Coach Will Ryan helped the team refocus. Wheeling rebuilt its lead back to as many as 18 before closing out a 14-point win on the road.
 
Wheeling shot 32-of-56 (57 percent) for the night, including a scorching 15-of-20 (75 percent) in the second half alone. The Cardinals also held advantages in rebounds (35 to 29) and points in the paint (38 to 34).
 
Daylin Lee led the Bobcats with 14 points in the loss.
 
Wheeling will travel once again on Wednesday, December 11 when they visit West Virginia State in Institute, West Virginia for a MEC game at 7:30 p.m.