WHEELING, W.Va. (Jan. 11) – A strong effort at the free-throw line down the stretch and a last-second stand helped the Cardinals fend off Concord for a 74-71 win Saturday evening inside the McDonough Center.
 
The Wheeling University men's basketball team improves to 8-4 overall, 5-3 in the Mountain East Conference (MEC). Meanwhile, the Mountain Lions drop to 2-6 against league foes, 4-9 overall.
 
Junior guard Jordan Reid (Silver Spring, Md./Albert Einstein) established a season-high with 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting. The Maryland native converted on each of his nine attempts at the free-throw line and added six rebounds.
 
Junior guard Jarett Haines (Bronx, N.Y./New Rochelle) and sophomore forward Emmanuel Ansong (Bordentown, N.J./Canterbury School) each scored 14 points. Ansong led the squad with eight rebounds and added a trio of blocked shots.
 
Concord opened the game with a 7-2 lead through three minutes. Wheeling went on to out-score the Mountain Lions 21-10 over the next nine minutes and a trey by Ansong gave the Cardinals its biggest lead of the first half at 23-17 with 9:05 left in the period. Wheeling never trailed again in the first half and took a 42-37 lead into the locker rooms.
 
The Cardinals were clinging to a 49-48 lead six minutes into the second half when they scored 10-straight points, capped off by a three pointer by senior guard Zach Collins (South Riding, Va./Freedom), that made the score 58-48 with 10:56 left in the game.
 
Concord managed to chip away at the lead and eventually came all the way back to within one possession at 70-67 with 35 seconds left in the game.
 
With the score 74-71, the Mountain Lions had the ball with under three seconds left in the game near mid-court with a chance to tie the game. Concord put the ball in play but were unable to get a last-second shot from the top of the key off in time, allowing Wheeling to hold on for the victory.
 
Wheeling struggled from the field down the stretch and converted just one field goal in the final eight minutes of the game. The Cardinals still managed to get to the charity stripe and knocked down 12-of-15 attempts to close out the game. Wheeling shot 20-of-25 (80 percent) for the game at the line.
 
Both teams posted identical 25-of-59 (42 percent) shooting performances. The Cardinals held the edge on the glass, out-rebounding Concord 40-to-32 on the night.
 
Concord was led by forward Liam Evans' double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds.
 
The Cardinals will try to make it three in-a-row on Wednesday, January 15 when they welcome Frostburg State to the McDonough Center for a tip at 7:30 p.m.