Wheeling, W. Va. - The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (9-16, 6-13) was back inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center on Saturday as they looked for a bounce back effort. They would get out to a hot start and it was enough to carry them to victory as they beat Glenville State 80-75. It was a big day for the Cardinal offense and the defense came through with a couple of big stops late as the team picked up their sixth Mountain East Conference (MEC) win of the season.
After S.J. Hutchinson got the Cardinals started with a layup, Glenville State would answer with a 5-0 run that made it a 5-2 game over the first two minutes of play. Tee Harris would break the run with a layup and a three-pointer from Sean Ealy would tie things back up at 7-7. The back and forth would continue through the first media timeout as the game was tied at 14-14, both defenses would step up over the next three minutes, as the teams would trade buckets to put the score at 16-16. At the 11:39 mark of the second quarter, Caleb Murray would hit a layup that sparked a 7-0 that was capped by another three-pointer by Ealy that gave Wheeling their biggest lead of the night at 23-16 as the clock ticked past the 10 minute mark.
Glenville State would break the run with a layup by Prince Mosengo and got back to within three points of the Cardinals, making it 25-22 with 7:24 to play. The Cardinals would get back on the board with a pair of Hutchinson free throws and he added a layup just before the final media timeout as the Cardinals pushed their lead to 29-22. They would add another layup courtesy of Marcus Johnson as the Cardinals pushed past the 30-point mark to make it 31-22. Glenville State would make a final push, going on a 6-0 run with a pair of three-pointers that made it a 31-28 game. They would get to within two points of the Cardinals with 1:14 to go, but the Cardinals would get another three-point play from Hutchinson to end the half. The Cardinals would go into the half leading 36-31 as they looked to hold the lead into the second half.
The Cardinals would come out in the second half scoring the first points on a free throw by Harris, but Glenville State would respond. They went on a 5-2 run to make it a 39-36 game with 16:15 to play before Johnson broke the run with a jumper. He would add another jumper right before the media timeout and the Cardinals were inked to a 43-36 lead. Johnson would hit another layup to get the Cardinals to a 45-38 lead, but Glenville State would not go down without a fight. They would score seven straight points and tied the game at 45-45 with 12:17 to go. Another Jonson layup would put Wheeling ahead 47-45, but a Glenville State three-pointer made it 48-47. They would go on a 9-0 run, all fueled by three-pointers and the Pioneers had a 54-47 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
William Gabbert broke the run with a three-pointer, but Glenville State would push their lead to 58-50. Johnson would respond with a three-pointer of his own and a Kevin Coleman free throw would cut the deficit to 58-54. Glenville State would get to the 60-point mark at the 7:02 mark and Gabbert hit another jumper to cut the deficit to 60-58. Johnson came back with a three-pointer to put the Cardinals back in front and a layup made it a 63-60 affair with 5:34 to play. Things would be tied back up at 65-65 with 3:43 to play and tied again at 67-67 with 2:34 to play. Smith would get the Cardinals back in front with a free throw and the team would go on a 7-0 run over the next minute and a half that would clinch the game. The Cardinals went up 74-67 with 25 seconds to play and would go on to win by the final score of 80-75.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was junior Marcus Johnson, who finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds to pick up a double-double. Johnson would shoot 10-21 from the floor and added a 2-8 mark from three-point range as he picks up his seventh double-double of the 2023-2024 season. Sean Ealy led the team with three three-pointers on the night, going 3-5 from beyond the arc and added 17 points to round out the day. S.J. Hutchinson would round out the double-digit scorers, adding 13 points as he rounded out the Cardinals offensive effort.
The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team returns to action on Wednesday, February 28th, when they hit the road to face Salem with tip-off at 7:30 PM.
