WHEELING, W.Va. (Jan. 26) – The Wheeling University men's basketball team battled, but was bested 98-86 by West Liberty Sunday afternoon inside the McDonough Center.
 
The Cardinals fall to 6-6 in the Mountain East Conference (MEC), 9-7 overall. Meanwhile, the Hilltoppers improve to 15-3 overall, 9-2 in league play.
 
Junior guard Jordan Reid (Silver Spring, Md./Albert Einstein) led Wheeling with 24 points, while backcourt partner Jarett Haines (Bronx, N.Y./New Rochelle) added 19 in the loss. Sophomore guard Jay Gentry (Milwaukee, Wisc./Brown Deer) and junior guard Geron Braithwaite (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) chipped in 13 and 11 points, respectively.
 
Wheeling got off to a great start and led 18-11 through the first five minutes of the contest. However, West Liberty quickly erased the Cardinal lead with 10-straight points to secure a 21-18 lead with 10:19 to play in the first half.
 
Wheeling answered back with seven-straight of its own to go back on top 25-21 nearing the nine-minute mark, but another Hilltoppers run pushed the guests out in-front 33-29 with less than five minutes until halftime. The Cardinals battled back to tie the game at 37-37 with 1:55 until halftime, before a 9-3 spurt to close out the half gave West Liberty a 46-40 advantage at the break.
 
The Cardinals stayed within striking distance of the Hilltoppers and trailed 66-59 with 12:03 left in the game. West Liberty followed with a 14-2 run, that included a trio of three pointers, to open up an 80-61 advantage with 10:15 remaining in the contest.
 
Wheeling did not surrender and responded with a 15-2 run of its own to slice the Hilltopper lead down to six, 82-76, with just under six minutes left on the clock. The Cardinals were unable to get any closer and converted just 1-of-9 from three-point range in the final six minutes, allowing West Liberty to pull away for the win.
 
The Hilltoppers shot 36-of-74 (49 percent) from the field, including 12-of-26 (46 percent) from long range. Wheeling finished the game shooting 31-of-64 (48 percent), but were only 5-of-20 (25 percent) from beyond-the-arc.
 
The Cardinals committed 16 turnovers against the West Liberty full-court pressure, but were credited with 12 takeaways of their own. 
 
Five Hilltoppers scored in double-figures, including Dalton Bolon, who finished with 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting with 13 rebounds.
 
Wheeling University Head Women's Golf Coach Sue Vail was honored with a presentation and a plaque at halftime to commemorate her induction into the West Virginia Golf Hall of Fame last year. She was just the fourth female to be enshrined.    
 
The Cardinals are back on the court on Wednesday, January 29 when they host West Virginia Wesleyan in another MEC contest at 7:30 p.m.