WHEELING, W.Va. (Feb. 15) – The Wheeling University men's basketball team held Glenville State 26 points below its season scoring average in a 78-67 win at the McDonough Center Saturday evening.
 
The Cardinals improve to 13-9 overall and 10-8 in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play. The win also clinches a berth into the MEC Tournament next month downtown at the WesBanco Arena, where the league's top-10 teams will face-off. Meanwhile, the loss sends Glenville State to 10-8 in the MEC, 13-11 overall.
 
Junior guard Jordan Reid (Silver Spring, Md./Albert Einstein) and sophomore forward Emmanuel Ansong (Bordentown, N.J./Canterbury School) each posted identical 21-point, eight-rebound performances. Reid chipped in four assists and two blocks to his final line. Junior guard Jarett Haines (Bronx, N.Y./New Rochelle) finished with 16 points, five rebounds and six assists, while sophomore guard Jay Gentry (Milwaukee, Wisc./Brown Deer) chipped in 10 in the win.
 
Glenville State led 8-6 five minutes into the game. The Cardinals answered with a 13-2 run, capped off by a basket-and-one by Haines, to open up a 19-10 advantage with 11:40 left until halftime.
 
The Pioneers drew back within three, 27-24, near the five-minute mark of the first half. Wheeling managed to rebuild the lead to 35-26 over the next two minutes, but eight-straight points to close out the half melted the Cardinal advantage to 35-34 at the break.
 
The Pioneers added to their run and scored the first four points of the second half to take a 38-35 lead with 18:18 to play in the game. Wheeling responded with one of its best spurts of the evening, going on a 13-2 run to take a 48-40 lead with 13:34 remaining on the clock.
 
Glenville State managed to battle back to within three, 54-51, at the 10-minute mark of the second half on a basket-and-one. The Cardinals never allowed the Pioneers to get any closer. Wheeling answered with an 11-3 run to build its lead to 65-54 and led throughout the remainder of the night.
 
The Cardinals handled Glenville State's full-court pressure and limited the Pioneers to a 24-of-66 (36 percent) showing from the field. Glenville State entered the night averaging 92.3 points per game.

Wheeling offensively only shot 1-of-10 from long range, but finished the night 30-of-59 (51 percent) from the field. The Cardinals out-scored Glenville State 48-to-26 in the paint.
 
Pioneer guard Hegel Augustin led the way with 18 points, while Wheeling-native Phil Bledsoe posted a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds in the loss. Bledsoe entered the night second in the MEC with 20.0 points per game.
 
The Cardinals will play for the final time this season on the McDonough Center floor on Wednesday, February 19 when they host Fairmont State (18-5, 13-5 MEC) in a huge MEC matchup. The opening-tip is set for 7:30 p.m.