West Liberty, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (0-1, 0-0) kicked off the 2022-23 season on Friday at the West Liberty Crossover. They battled hard in the opening match against California University of Pennsylvania, but fell in a close one 82-73. It was a big Wheeling debut for sophomore Marcus Johnson, as he paced the Cardinals offense in the game.
Johnson led the way with 28 points in the opener, going 10-13 from the floor including a 4-5 mark from beyond the arc. He added a 4-4 showing from the free throw line as he began his Cardinals career with a bang. Seniors
Brent Price and
John Korte were the other two Cardinals to finish in double digits on the day, finishing with 13 and 10 points respectively. On the defensive side, Johnson came through again for his team, leading the way with eight rebounds while Korte added five. While Price was the team's second leading scorer, he was big in the passing game finishing with six assists. The Cardinals finished with 12 assists as a team on the day, as that was one of the points of emphasis for Head Coach
Chris Richardson this season.
The Cardinals came out on fire over the game's first three minute, allowing just one Vulcan shot during that time. Johnson and Price each hit two-point shots during that time and the Cardinals were out to a 4-0 lead.
John Korte hit a pair of shots as Wheekig extended their lead to 10-6 as the clock ticked past 16 minutes to go in the first half. The Vulcans kept trying to cut away at the Cardinals lead, but Wheeling was able to match them and held a 12-6 lead. Zion Suddeth would put up his first points of the day with a three-pointer that made it a 15-10 game. The Cardinals would go to the bench as they called on George Taylor, who hit a pair of three-pointer that made it 21-13. Wheeling would lead as the clock ticked past the 10 minute mark as they continued to hit shots.
Wheeling continued to lead 23-20 at the 8:13 mark of the first half before the Vulcans got going. Cal-U went on a 5-0 run and got their first lead of the day at 25-23. It would be a short-lived lead as
Andrew Taylor hit a three-pointer and a Price layup made it 28-26. The final four minutes of the half saw the team's jockeying for position with the score coming tied four times during that time. With a minute forty one left in the first half, the game was tied at 36-36 following a Johnson three-pointer and a Cal-U free throw that tied the game. The Vulcans would end the half on a run with a 5-0 run that gave the a 41-36 lead. The teams headed into the locker room with that same score as the Cardinals looked to get back in the lead.
Cal-U would hit the first bucket of the second half, but Wheeling came back strong with a Johnson layup and a Trey Stouffer three that made it a 43-40 score. The Cardinals would score six points over the first five minutes of the second half and trailed 50-42 with 15 minutes to play. However, the Cardinals got a spark when Kevin Coleman Jr. scored the first points of his career to make it 50-44. That would spark a 10-5 Cardinals run and what was an eight points deficit was cut to 55-52 with 11:58 to go in the half. However, the Vulcans responded with a 6-9 run that brought the score to 61-52 with 10 minutes to play.
Over the game's final 10 minutes, the Cardinals kept fighting to keep the score within 10 points. Johnson was able to hit a pair of three pointers over the final 10 minutes and
John Korte added a pair of free throws. With 2:40 left on the clock, the Cardinals trailed 76-66 and were looking for a comeback. A pair of free throws from Johnson made it 76-68 and a dunk by John Krote made it a six-point affair. However, Cal-U would go on to score the next six points to go ahead 82-70 as the game was coming down to its final seconds. A Johnson three-pointer would end the night for Wheeling as they fell 82-73. The Cardinals battled throughout the night and showed promise to start the season. They look to build on that success as they head into their weekend finale.
The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team returns to the court on Saturday, November 12th, as they take on Shepherd in the second half of the West Liberty Crossover. You can watch that game live by clicking
HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking
HERE.
