Wheeling, W. Va. - Down the stretch, the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (10-17, 6-14) played some of their best basketball of the season, winning five of their final eight games. They look to carry that momentum with them into the 2024 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament as they open play as the #9 seed in the field. They will take on #8 seeded Notre Dame College in their first round matchup as they begin the road to the MEC Championship. 

The Cardinals wrapped up the regular season with a hard fought battle against rival West Liberty to kick-off March. Early on, the Cardinals got out to a hot start as they built a 13-9 lead over the Hilltoppers during the first six minutes of the game. The two teams would go back and forth throughout the first half, and the Cardinals remained in striking distance of the Hilltoppers heading into halftime trailing 54-49. The Cardinals continued to be efficient throughout the game, hitting 46.9% of their shots from the floor and 50% of their shots from three-point range. However, the Hilltopper offense would continue to score throughout the night and went on to win the game 107-92. 

The Cardinals were once again led by junior Marcus Johnson, who picked up the double-double with 29 points and 11 rebounds. It was Johnson's ninth double-double of the 2023-2024 season and marked the 11th time this season that the junior scored 25 or more points in a game. He enters the tournament having been one of the most efficient shooters for the Cardinals, hitting a 51% (25-49) mark from the floor over his last three games and a 40.9% (9-22) mark from three-point range. The Cardinals have relied on Johnson to make things happen on offense throughout the season and he looks to continue the success as he heads into the MEC Tournament. 

Another key to the Cardinal's success was the spark off the bench provided by Jerry Saunders Jr. Saunders put up a season-high 17 points in the contest, and shot 71,4% from the floor to lead the effort off the bench. Saunders has been a role player for the Cardinals this season and looks to continue his success into the tournament. Junior Sean Ealy would round out the effort with 12 points as he continues to be a strong point guard for the team. Ealy has brought his average up to 13.8 PPG during this season half of the season and has averaged just over 16.0 PPG since the calendar turned to 2024. 

The 2024 MEC Men's Basketball tournament kicks off on Wednesday night with the first round matchups between #7 Glenville State and #10 Frostburg State at 6 PM, followed by #8 Notre Dame College and #9 Wheeling at 8:30 PM. The Cardinals have played in the first round of the tournament in each of the last two seasons, going 1-1 in the previous two games. They are looking to get to Friday's Quarterfinal round for the first time since the 2022 tournament when they defeated Glenville State 78-72 to advance and take on the eventual MEC Tournament Champions West Liberty. Since the MEC Tournament field expanded, the Cardinals have played in the first round four times and are 3-1 in those four previous appearances heading into Wednesday night's game. 

The Matchup 

The Cardinals and Falcons are meeting up for the 14th time in program history and the second time in postseason play. Notre Dame College leads the all-time series at 13-10, and has the lone postseason win between the two teams back during the 2016 MEC Tournament, where they beat Wheeling 76-68. The Cardinals would drop both matchups during the regular season series and are looking to break a nine-game losing streak at the hands of the Falcons on Wednesday night. 

In their most recent meeting, the Cardinals fell to Notre Dame College at home back on January 24th, in an 80-71 affair. Sean Ealy would lead the Cardinal effort off the bench, scoring 19 points and shooting 8-14 from the floor. S.J. Hutchinson would finish behind him with 14 points in the effort, while former Cardinal Trey Stoffer added 11 points to round out the offense. 

The Details 

Tip-off for Wednesday night's game is scheduled for 8:30 PM inside the WesBanco Arena. You can watch the action live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.