Buffalo, NY. – After two tightly contested games to start the season, the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (1-2, 0-0) hit the road for the third straight game on Tuesday. This trip took them to Buffalo, New York as they looked to pick up their first win of the season. Four Cardinals hit double figures on the night as Wheeling picked up their first win of the 2023-2024 season with an 82-76 win as they improved to 1-0 on the season.

Early on, D'Youville would have their shot working as they scored six of the first eight points to take a 6-2 lead three and a half minutes into play. Tee Harris Jr. would hit a three-pointer to break the run and at the first media timeout it was an 8-5 D'Youville advantage. Harris would hit another layup coming out of the break to make it an 8-7 game and Trey Stoffer would tie things up with a free throw that tied the game at 9-9 with 13:24 to go in the half. D'Youville would take back the lead twice over the next three minutes, but both times Wheeling would tie it back up. Just before the 10-minute media timeout, Sean Ealy hit the first shot of what woud be a big day as he gave Wheeling a 13-12 lead. Another Ealy lay-up at the 10 minute mark would give Wheeling a 15-14 lead at the second media timeout.

It would start a run for the Cardinals as they scored 11 straight points to turn a back and forth affair into a 24-14 Cardinal advantage. Kevin Coleman Jr. would lead the Cardinals during the run with four of the 11 points, while Alex Yoakum hit a big three at the beginning of the run. A pair of free throws by the Saints would break the run before Trey Stoffer added four more points to put Wheeling up 28-18 with just over five minutes to play before the half. Wheeling maintained that 10 point lead for the rest of the half as they spread the ball around the court. Four different Cardinals combined to score the final 10 points of the half, with Stoffer leading the way with four of those points. The Cardinals headed into the locker room ahead 38-24 as they had their first halftime lead of the 2023-2024 season.

The Cardinals held a healthy 45.13% mark from the floor in the first half, but D'Youville was not ready to go down without a fight. A layup and a three-pointer by the Saints would kick off the new half before William Gabbert hit a three-pointer to make it a 41-29 game just a minute into the new half. Stoffer and Gabbert would lead the Cardinals through the early part of the second half, however, D'Youville would cut the Cardinals lead to 45-35 with 16:22 left in the half. Marcus Johnson would then find his groove, hitting a pair of three-pointers as the Cardinals went over the 50-point mark. However, D'Youville was right back at it as they scored 11 straight points and made it a 51-47 game. It would remain a single digit game into the second media timeout as Wheeling tried to hold on sitting ahead 59-52 with 10 minutes to play.

Yoakum would then hit a jumper to make it 61-52 and an Ealy free throw a minute and a half later brought it back to a 10-point game. The two teams would battle through the next five minutes as the Saints battled back and kept the game within single digits. At the five minute media timeout, the Cardinals led 71-62 after Johnson hit a jumper at the 5:34 mark of the half. With 3:10 to go in the game, D'Youville had made it a 75-71 game as Nasir Hammonds hit a layup. Another jumper by Chase Jenkins made it 75-73 before Johnson hit a pair of free throws. The score sat at 77-75 with 55 seconds to play and the Cardinals would get a big shot as Caleb Murray hit a three-pointer to make it 80-75. That shot was enough to seal the deal as the Cardinals won 82-76 and moved to 1-2 on the season.

Leading the way for the Cardinals was Sean Ealy, who set a new season-high mark with 17 points on the night. He shot an impressive 62.5% from the floor and added a 7-8 mark from the free throw line. Three different Cardinals finished in double digits with Marcus Johnson (12), Trey Stoffer (12), and William Gabbert (12) each hitting in double digits. Gabbert led the defensive effort with eight rebounds on the day while Ealy added seven rebounds on the day. Kevin Coleman Jr. led the passing game with three assists on the night as Wheeling spread the ball around with nine different Cardinals scoring on the night. It was win number one for the Cardinals on the season as they get ready for MEC play.

The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team returns to action on Saturday, November 18th, when they hit the road to face Notre Dame College at 4 PM.