Wheeling, W. Va. – It was a trip to the hilltop on Saturday for the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (5-12, 2-9) as they played in the first matchup of "The Battle for Wheeling" in 2023-2024. The Cardinals would fall behind early, and never got their groove going as they fell 123-76. Three different Cardinals finished in double digits on the night as the Cardinals shot 46.6% from the floor in the effort.
It was an uphill battle from the start as the Cardinals found themselves down by 24 at the end of the first half, but they were able to battle back. They got as close as 49-31 with 4:39 to go before halftime but unfortunately the Hilltopper offense would get going. They ended up scoring 63 first half points, and headed into the locker room leading 63-39.
The breakdown of the game showed that Wheeling got outplayed mostly due to second chance points and turnovers, but they were really close in points off the bench and fast break points which was a reason they were able to stay in the game for a little bit in the first half and those stats show that they did have areas of strength in the game.
Wheeling did do some positive things in the game that they can build off of with Kevin Coleman,
Marcus Johnson, and
Sean Ealy all having ten-plus points which was a great team effort all around and they also were able to get after the ball even on missed shots with 25 total rebounds in the game. These are all the team can build off of entering that next game as they continue their run towards the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament.
The Cardinals have had to be road warriors throughout the month of January, with four of their seven games being played on the road, and that script clips as they head to February. The Cardinals, who are 3-4 in seven home games this season look to use the home court to their advantage down the stretch. With big events lining the schedule in Haywood Highsmith's jersey retirement and alumni night the Cardinals will feed off their home crowd for that stretch run.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was the combination of
Sean Ealy and
Kevin Coleman Jr., with each scoring 14 points in the effort. Coleman was nearly perfect from the floor, shooting 77.7% (7-9) from the floor while also leading the defense with six rebounds on the night. Ealy added a 5-9 mark from the floor, with four of those five shots coming from three-point range.
Marcus Johnson returned to the floor after missing Wednesday's game and added 13 points in the effort.
Trey Stoffer would lead the passing game, finishing with five assists to round out the Cardinal's offensive effort.
Wheeling Men's Basketball will be taking on the University of Charleston on Wednesday at 7:30 in Charleston, so make sure you tune in via the live stream or get your tickets.
