Wheeling, W. Va- The Wheeling University Men's Basketball (6-8), (1-6) team extended their cold streak to two in a row and four in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play with their 91-86 loss against Frostburg State on Saturday. With Glenville State on the docket tomorrow, the Cardinals are optimistic and eager to return to the win column.

The Bobcats came to town, and the Cardinals went back and forth to begin the tilt. Alex Smith's play Wheeling to pull ahead 15-9, but the Bobcats responded shortly after to knot it back up. Frostburg State started to gain momentum a little past the halfway point of the first half and then took over with five minutes to play. Koby Baptiste, who earned the MEC Player of the Week, recorded three of his four steals in this timeframe, which allowed the Bobcats to widen the gap on the scoreboard. The Cardinals went into the locker room trailing 51-42. Wheeling kept in touch with Frostburg State, but a powerful dunk by Tee Harris jr. changed the tide for the Cardinals, and they would start closing the margin. Wheeling took a slim lead to enter the final eight minutes, but Frostburg's 54.84 second-half field goal percentage was the difference maker, as they secured the 91-86 victory.

Sean Ealy finished as the leading scorer for the Cardinals with 22 points, cashing in on seven of his 15 attempts from the field. The senior guard has been a steady source of offense, recording double digits in 10 contests this season, and has met the double-figure mark in five of the last six games. More impressively, he has the best free throw percentage on the team with a minimum of 30 attempts and is tabbed third in the conference with his .891 from the line. With his consistency at the line, Wheeling is first in the MEC as a team, shooting 80% from the charity stripe.

Tee Harris jr. came alive in the second half, as he accounted for 13 of his 17 total points. Harris' performance sparked the Cardinal's comeback with a monster dunk coming out of the first media timeout of the second half. His offensive production most certainly was needed, but he swatted away two key shots on the defensive side to keep Wheeling in the running. The 6'7 sophomore leads the team with 20 blocks on the season and is tied for second in the conference. 

 

The Matchup

The Glenville State Pioneers are coming into this contest against Wheeling, tied seventh in the MEC with a record of 8-6 and 3-4 in MEC play. The Pioneers were riding a four-game win streak. However, West Virginia Wesleyan snapped it as Glenville lost 84-78 last Saturday. Freshman forward Ammar Maxwella led Glenville State with 16 points. 

Since 1998, the Cardinals are 23-19 over the Pioneers. In their last meeting, Wheeling snapped a four-game losing streak to Glenville State with an 80-75 victory at the McDonough Center. Former Cardinal Marcus Johnson secured a double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds on February 24, 2023. Sean Ealy put up 17 points and dished up five assists. 

 

The Details

The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team will host the Glenville State Pioneers at 7:30 pm inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. The game will be streamed live on MEC.TV HERE and LiveStats will be available HERE.