Wheeling, W. Va. -  It was a big night inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center on Saturday as the Wheeling Men's Basketball team (5-11, 4-6) pulled off a big win over Frostburg State 97-80. It was a night where senior Jarett Haines scored 27 points to lead the way and became the second Cardinal to reach the 1,000 point mark this season.
 
He became the 48^th Cardinal all-time to reach the mark, and now has 1,013 points for his career. One of the keys to his success was his three-point shot, as he led the team with four. He shot 53% from the ark and let all players on the floor from 3-point range. He was one of two cardinals to finish in double digits as fellow senior Jay Gentry scored 22 points on the night. The Cardinal offense got off to a hot start early and kept that momentum the rest of the night. Wheeling shot blank percent from the floor and blank percent from three in a win. While scoring his 1000th point Jarret Haines also led the team in assists (5) and Andrew Taylor led the team in rebounds (9).
 
It was a back and forth battle at the start of the afternoon, with the teams trading the first eight points of the contest. However, it would be Wheeling that got the early advantage when Haines made his first bucket of the day to start a 4-0 run that got Wheeling ahead 8-4 in the first three minutes of the game. The Bobcats brought the score back to within one point two minutes later, but Wheeling was able to keep hold of their lead. Senior Jordan Reid made back-to-back buckets, and a fast break three-pointer by Jarett Haines had the Cardinals with a commanding 17-11 lead with 13 ticks left in the first half. 
 
As the half went on, Wheeling continued to build on the lead, through some gritty play. Haines had two early fouls that forced him to miss some time, but the Cardinals would get hot from three-point range. Freshman Tre Massey and senior Jay Gentry combined for three three-pointers in a span of a few minutes, and Wheeling built their largest lead to that point, but couldn't get over the double-digit mark. They held a nine-point lead with eight minutes to go, but Frostburg continued to fight back. They got as close as seven points before Wheeling's offense continued to get hot and extended their lead. Wheeling outscored Frostburg State 20-16 over the final seven minutes of the quarter and led 45-35 at halftime.
 
The second half has been a strong half for the Cardinals in the past couple of games, and that proved to be the case once again today. Wheeling scored 52 second-half points and started the scoring right away. Korte hit a bucket to start the scoring, and Gentry added a three-pointer to extend the Cardinals lead to 50-35. After a three by Frostburg State, Jarett Haines scored back-to-back buckets to score his 1,000^th career point to extend the Wheeling lead to 54-41. However, Frostburg State didn't go down without a fight and battled back on an 18-3 run that cut the Wheeling lead to 59-51. However, instead of allowing Frostburg to fight their way back into the game, Wheeling responded with a run of their own, 6-2, that made it a 14-point game with 13 minutes to play.
 
Over the final ten minutes of the game, Wheeling was able to maintain that double-digit lead for most of the time. John Korte had two big three-pointers and Haines added another three to cement the Cardinals win. The three-pointer came with four minutes left in the game and turned what was an 85-76 lead into an 88-76 lead. This would prove to be too much for the Bobcats to overcome, and Wheeling held on for the 97-80 win. It improved Wheeling to 4-6 in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play and moves them up into eighth place. Their next three games coming against the top teams in the conference, and Wheeling will look to use that opportunity to keep rising through the standings.
 
The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team returns to action on Wednesday, January 19^th, when they hit the road to take on Notre Dame College with tip-off at 7:30 pm.