Wheeling, W. Va. - Despite falling to Concord last time out, the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (8-16, 5-13) clinched their spot in the 2024 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament with West Virginia Wesleyan's loss to the University of Charleston. They return home on Saturday and are looking to get as high of a seed as possible as they host Glenville State with tip-off at 4 PM. The Cardinals currently sit 2.5 games behind the Pioneers in the conference standings and a win would get them one step closer to leapfrogging Glenville State in the conference standings.
Last time out, the Cardinals hit the road as they took on Concord in a game where the Cardinals saw four different players finish in double figures on the day. However, the Mountain Lions came out hot and put up 57 points in the first half, shooting a game-high 55.26% from the floor. The Cardinals were hitting shots of their own throughout the first half, putting up a 41.6% mark, but they were unable to keep pace with Concord and at halftime were trailing 57-39. During the second half, the Cardinal's defense took the lead, holding the Mountain Lions to just 41 points, but the damage had been done in the first half. The Cardinals would fall 98-70 to drop to 5-13 in MEC play and they look to rebound in Saturday's matchup.
The Cardinals were led on the day by Sean Ealy, who finished with 15 points and two assists on the night. The junior has stepped in as the team's starting point guard down the stretch, and has handled the position well averaging 13.8 Points Per Game over his last five games. He has been in double figures for four of those five games and eclipsed the 15-point mark for the third time during that stretch. The effort has helped him up his season average to 13.4 PPG, tying him with West Virginia State's Arthur Cox for 14th in the conference. Ealy will be relied on as the guy to run the Cardinal offense down the stretch and he looks to continue to be a catalyst for the Cardinal offense.
After scoring his 1,000th career point of his Wheeling career in the game prior, Marcus Johnson came back out with 11 points in the game against Concord. He remains the MEC's leading scorer this season, averaging 21.1 PPG, while also leading the conference in field goals (170) and sitting fifth in three-pointers (57). He has been the spark his team has needed several times this season and looks to continue that as the season goes on. William Gabbert was also back in double figures, hitting double figures for the first time since January 20th when the team last faced Concord. He finished with 12 points on the night and tied for the team lead with two big three-pointers, going 2-4 from beyond the arc.
With two more conference games ahead of the Cardinals, they are looking to get the highest seed possible. They are currently sitting at the #9 seed, and can get as high as the #8 seed before they head to WesBanco Arena. It starts with their game on Saturday as a win over Glenville State would give them an opportunity to do just that. They sit 2.5 games back of the Pioneers and three-games back of Notre Dame College with three games to go in the conference slate. The Cardinals would need to win each of their final two games and have both Glenville State and Notre Dame College lose out to climb the standings as they head towards the tournament.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Pioneers are meeting for the 41st time in program history on Saturday, and the second time during the 2023-2024 season. Wheeling leads the all-time matchup at 22-18 and has an even stronger 13-4 record when they host Glenville State. However, they are looking to get out of a funk, having lost four straight to the Pioneers, dating back to their MEC Tournament win in 2022 over Glenville State.
In the first meeting of the season, Glenville State would barley sneak by with a 77-76 victory over the Cardinals inside the WesBanco Arena. The Cardinals were led in that game by Marcus Johnson, who had 28 points off the bench and shot 11-24 from the floor. Sean Ealy was the other Cardinals to hit double figures, finishing with 14 points while Johnson led the defense with seven rebounds.
The Details
Tip-off for Saturday's game is scheduled for 4 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.
