WHEELING, W.Va. (March 6) – The Cardinals struggled from the field in the second half of their 67-61 loss to West Virginia State in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament Quarterfinals Friday night inside WesBanco Arena.
The Wheeling University men's basketball team, under first-year Head Coach
Will Ryan, finish the season at 14-13 overall. Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets advance to take on top-seed West Liberty and improve to 19-8 this season.
Junior guard
Jordan Reid (Silver Spring, Md./Albert Einstein), who was recently named to the All-MEC Second Team, scored a team-high 24 points in the loss. Sophomore forward
Emmanuel Ansong (Bordentown, N.J./Canterbury School) registered a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while junior guard
Jarett Haines (Bronx, N.Y./New Rochelle) just missed one of his own with 11 points and nine boards.
The game was tied at 5-5 three minutes into play, before an 11-4 spurt by the Yellow Jackets allowed them to take a 16-9 lead into the first media timeout near the 13-minute mark of the first half.
Wheeling responded in a big way, scoring 15-straight points to collect a 24-16 lead with 8:24 left in the opening period. West Virginia State managed to cut the deficit back to four, 26-22, before nine-unanswered, capped off with a Reid trey, enabled the Cardinals to rebuild the lead to 35-22 with 4:05 remaining in the first half.
The Cardinals went cold offensively over the final four minutes of the first half and a pair of baskets by the Yellow Jackets sent the game into halftime with Wheeling ahead 35-27.
The cold shooting leaked into the second half for the Cardinals. West Virginia State quickly erased the Cardinal lead and took a 47-39 lead with 10:18 left in the contest. Wheeling was unable to go on a run in the second half, but still managed to bring the deficit down to one possession at 64-61 with 34 seconds remaining on the clock following a three by Haines.
The Cardinals were unable to get any closer. West Virginia State knocked down free throws, while Wheeling was held off of the scoreboard, securing the win for the Yellow Jackets.
Wheeling struggled from the field in the second half. The Cardinals were only 9-of-31 (29 percent) from the field in the final 20 minutes and went scoreless for nearly eight minutes. Wheeling as a team shot 22-of-68 (32 percent) for the evening.
West Virginia State got most of its offense from Glen Abram, who finished with a game-high 30 points.
