Wheeling, W. Va. – On Wednesday night, the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (3-14, 1-10) kicked off a three-game home stand as they took on Notre Dame College. It was another game that came down to the wire for the Cardinals, but in the end they fell 85-81. It was the 10th time this season that the Cardinals have lost a game by five points or less as they continue to battle night in and night out.

Early on, the Falcons offense came out strong has they put the Cardinals in a 9-2 hole early on. An Andrew Taylor lay up started the game and was the only Cardinals points through the first 3 minutes of play. After Notre Dame College extended their lead to 12-4, Marcus Johnson stop the run with a layup and Wheeling found themselves down 12-4 with 16:43 showing on the first half clock. That jumper got the Cardinals started on a 6-0 run then made it a 4-point game as they found themselves right back in it. However, the Falcons would come right back with five straight points and at the first media time out the score sat at 17-8 in favor of the Falcons. John Korte was just getting started on his big night with a layup as the Cardinals battled back out scoring Notre Dame College 7-5 over the next 5 minutes and at the 10 minute mark of the first half trail just 22-15.

Notre Dame College continued to build on their lead, extending it to 25-17 as Wheeling continue to try to create offensive opportunities. They cut the score to 25-20 thanks to a Johnson layup, but every time the Cardinals punched the Falcons had a counter punch as they made a 27-20 with 5:23 showing on the clock. The Cardinals needed a spark and got one as William Gabbert hit a three-pointer and Courtney added a layup that made it a 27-25 game. The two teams would go back and forth through the remaining 5 minutes of the quarter and With less than a minute to go and a half The score sat at 35-24 in favor of the Falcons. A pair of Notre Dame College misses set the Cardinals up with one more offensive opportunity with 30 seconds showing on the clock. Korte would miss a layup with 6 seconds to go but Brent Price was there with the offensive rebound and slammed in the dunk as time expired to send Wheeling into the half up 36-35.

The Cardinals had successfully battled back in the game and now look to extend their lead as they headed into the second half. The first 4 minutes of the second half looked much like the final 5 minutes of the first with a teams trading blows and The lead trading hands four times during that stretch. With 16:13 to go The score sat tied at 42-42 with both teams looking for an advantage. A three-pointer by Dearius Barker got the Falcons back out in front but price answered with a dunk to make it a one-point game heading into the first media time out. Korte Hit a lay up coming out of the media time out and the Cardinals found themselves back and front 46-45. Neither team would lead by more than 4 points over the next 5 minutes and by the second media time out it was a full point game with Notre Dame College leading 58-54.

With both teams looking for a run it was Notre Dame College that would find it scoring seven straight points to make it a 65-58 game. Wheeling had to once again find a way to fight back in the game and did just that making it a five-point game with 24 seconds showing on the clock. The Cardinals would have foul Notre Dame's Jaedon Willis On the next possession and he went 1-2 from the free throw line to make it an 81-75 game. A price layup would make it 81-77 but another Cardinal foul sent Notre Dame College to the line where they went 2-2 to push it back to a six point game. With 4 seconds left to play price hit a big 3-pointer that made it an 83-80 game but Notre Dame College would not let this one slip away as they finished 2-2 from the free throw line and walked away with the 85-81 victory.

John Korte continued his recent tear, picking up his third double double of the year with 29 points and 10 rebounds to lead the way. Over his last three games, Korte has scored 86 points and averages 285 points per game to lead the way for the Cardinals. Korte was one of two players to finish with a double double on the day as Brent Price added his second double double of the year. He finished with 22 points and added 14 rebounds to lead the defense. The final double figures scorer for the Cardinals was Marcus Johnson, who ended the night with 15 points to round out the offense. The Cardinals dropped to 1-9 in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play as they push on through this stretch run towards the MEC tournament.

The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team returns to action on Saturday, January 21st, when they host West Liberty at 4 PM.