Wheeling, W. Va. - As the weather starts to get colder outside, things will be heating up in the gym as the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (0-0, 0-0) tips off their 2021-2022 season at the Atlantic Region Crossover this weekend at West Liberty University. They begin the weekend taking on East Stroudsburg on Friday night and wrap up the weekend taking on Winston-Salem on Saturday afternoon on top of the hill.
After playing a couple of exhibition games against Canisius and Northern Kentucky in the weeks leading up to the season, Wheeling is looking to take what they learned from those games and translate that into good play on the court. Head Men's Basketball coach Chris Richardson scheduled these exhibition games to give his guys a chance to see some tough competition and be able to prepare them for what they will face in the regular season.
"The whole point of playing these exhibition games is two-fold, number one to give our players a great experience and number two to get us ready for the rigors of our schedule," said Richardson. "Our schedule presents some of its own challenges, and we have to prepare for that. We played two quality opponents, and now we open with two quality opponents this week. We are just looking for continued improvement and hopefully we see that."
Two guys that will be looked at to lead the offense this season are graduate student Jordan Reid and senior Jarett Haines. Reid was the team's leading scorer last season, averaging 22.0 points per game and leading the way with 352 points scored. However, he also played big on the defensive side of things pulling down 75 rebounds to tie for the team lead. Haines was right behind Reid, averaging 18.1 points per game during the season while leading the team with 59 assists during the year.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Cardinals look to Reid and sophomore John Korte to lead the way getting boards. Reid averaged a team-high 7.9 rebounds per game last season and pulled down 126 total rebounds. Korte finished with 103 total rebounds, an average of 6.4 rebounds per game, and one double-double last season. As two of the Cardinals' main "big guys," they look to play tough under the net and get the ball back in the Cardinals' hands.
With the Mountain East Conference (MEC) reverting to the one conference format in 2021-2022, Wheeling will get a chance to battle against all 12 MEC teams twice during the season. Wheeling will be fighting for one of the top 10 spots in the standings as they look to make their second straight trip to the MEC playoff tournament after being outed in the quarterfinal round against The University of Charleston last season.
The Match-ups
East Stroudsburg: The Cardinals and Warriors have matched up one time in team history, with that meeting coming back on November 12th, 2016. That game was also played at a neutral site, with the Cardinals coming out on top 78-67. Former Cardinals Pat Moseh and Chase Lawson led the scoring with 14 and 11 points respectively while former Cardinal Hayword Highsmith led the defensive effort, pulling down 11 rebounds in the win.
Winston-Salem: The Cardinals and Rams will be matching up for the first time in team history on Saturday in the second game of the weekend. The Rams play in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) and did not compete last season due to COVID restrictions. Their last full season of competition came in 2019-2020, when they finished the year 19-10 overall and 13-3 in conference play.
The Details
Tip-off for Friday night's season opener is scheduled for 7:30 pm at West Liberty University, and Saturday's tip-off is scheduled for 4 PM. You can watch Friday's game live HERE or follow along with Live Stats HERE, and watch Saturday's game live HERE or follow along with Live Stats HERE.
