WHEELING, W.Va. (Feb. 19) – A last-second heave hit the front-end of the rim in the Cardinals 79-78 loss to Fairmont State Wednesday night inside the McDonough Center.
The loss sends the Wheeling University men's basketball team to 13-10 overall, 10-9 in the Mountain East Conference (MEC). Meanwhile, the Falcons escape and improve to 14-5 in league play, 20-5 overall.
The Cardinals trailed by one in the final minute, when junior guard
Jarett Haines (Bronx, N.Y./New Rochelle) stepped back and drained a three to give Wheeling a 76-74 lead with 34 seconds on the clock. Fairmont State answered with a three of its own by Isaiah Sanders, and a turnover allowed the Falcons to extend their lead to 79-76 with four seconds on the clock.
After a timeout, sophomore forward
Bryce Foggin (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast) corralled a loose ball near the three-point line and hit the front iron. Sophomore guard
Jay Gentry (Milwaukee, Wisc./Brown Deer) scooped up the rebound and tried to retreat to the three-point line for a second attempt, but was ruled to have had his foot on the line, allowing Fairmont State to sneak away with a 79-78 win.
Gentry led the Cardinals with 18 points. Sophomore forward
Emmanuel Ansong (Bordentown, N.J./Canterbury School) and freshman forward
John Korte (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) each had 15 points, while junior guard
Jordan Reid (Silver Spring, Md./Albert Einstein) chipped in 13. Ansong, Korte and Reid each finished with eight rebounds, while Korte added a team-high four assists.
The Cardinals came out swinging early. Wheeling opened up an 11-3 lead just over three minutes into the contest to force a Fairmont State timeout. The Falcons managed to slice the Cardinal advantage down to 18-16 at the 9:36-mark, before six-straight Wheeling points re-built the lead to eight, 24-16 with seven minutes left in the half. Fairmont State eventually tied the game at 24-24, but the Cardinals never trailed in the first half and managed to take a 38-37 lead into halftime.
The Falcons grabbed the lead early in the second half and appeared to be on their way when they opened up a 59-50 lead with 11:18 left in the game. A trey by Korte and back-to-back threes by Gentry quickly tied the game back up less than a minute later.
Fairmont State once again built its lead back to nine, 70-61, with 6:41 left on the clock. The Cardinals responded over the next five minutes with a 13-2 run that tied the game up a 73-73 with just over a minute left in the game, just prior to the final sequence.
Both teams shot over 45 percent from the field and both squads left points at the free-throw line. Wheeling was 12-of-17 (71 percent) at the charity stripe, while Fairmont State finished 13-of-19 (68 percent), including missed attempts down the stretch that kept the door open for the Cardinals.
Cole VonHandorf and Dale Bonner each finished with 18 points to pace the Falcons.
The Cardinals honored their two seniors for their contributions to the program prior the start of the game, which included guard
Zach Collins (South Riding, Va./Freedom) and center
Jeremiah April (Phoenix, Ariz./Joy Christian).
Wheeling will close the regular-season with three road games, beginning on Saturday, February 22 when they travel to Frostburg State for a MEC contest at 4 p.m.
