The Cardinals welcomed in their rivals from the hilltop last time out and put together an all out effort from start to finish. Early on, the Hilltoppers built two separate leads of 9-4 and 21-11 to try to put the Cardinals away early, but both times Wheeling battled back and stayed in the game. That persistency would pay off as the two teams went point for point with each other through the first half before a Brent Price layup sent Wheeling into halftime leading 54-52. It was the Cardinal's turn to try and build a lead against West Liberty, and they did just that scoring the first five points of the half and building an 83-67 lead with 10 minutes to play. It would be enough for Wheeling to ride to victory as they earned their first win against West Liberty since the 2018 season 114-107.
 

The big performance of the night came courtesy of senior John Korte, who set a new career-high with 40 points in the game and fell just eight points shy of the program record for points in a single game. For the senior, it was a continuation of the tear he has been on since the team has gotten back for th 2023 portion of their schedule. He has scored 27 or more points in each of his last four games and has scored 29+ over the last three. The run has increased his scoring average to 20.2 points per game and puts him as the third highest scorer in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) behind Jaedon Willis (NDC) and Bryce Butler (WLU). Korte has been a much needed spark for the offense and looks to carry them down the stretch run.
 

Joining Korte on the big offensive day were fellow senior Brent Price and sophomore Marcus Johnson. Price finished right behind Korte with 24 points, while leading the Cardinal's passing game with five assists. The Wheeling native leads the Cardinals with 55 assists this season and finished a game with five or more assists for the fifth time this season. Rounding out the top three scorers was Johnson, who picked up his second double double of the season with 21 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. All three guys have shown that they can carry the offense when needed, giving the Cardinals plenty of weapons to go to on that side of the floor.
 

With the win, the Cardinals move into a tie with West Virginia Wesleyan for the coveted #10 seed in the MEC tournament race. The winner of Wednesday's game will have the inside track to the final playoff spot with five weeks to go making this another big game in front of the home crowd. Wheeling is currently entering a big stretch of games that could help them determine their playoff fate. With West Virginia Wesleyan and Davis & Elkins set for this week, the Cardinals will be looking to get revenge and climb up the conference standings as they head into their February schedule.
 

The Matchup
 

The Cardinals and Bobcats will continue their stories rivalry, meeting for the 43rd time in program history and the second time during the 2022-23 season. When the two teams meet in Wheeling, West Virginia, the Cardinals have a slightly worse advantage, holding a 10-6 record at home compared to 14-6 on the road. However, it has been a high scoring series for the Cardinals as the team has averaged just over 78 points per game against the Bobcats.
 

Their first meeting of the year was another high scoring affair with Wheeling ending up on the losing end of an 89-87 overtime game. John Korte led the way in that first meeting, finishing with 28 points and 11 rebounds to lead both sides of the ball. Brent Price also got over the 20-point mark in the game, finishing with 23, while Trey Stoffer led the passing game with four assists.
 

The Details
 

Tip-off for Wednesday night's game is scheduled for 7:30 pm inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.