Wheeling, W. Va. - Since the start of the calendar year, the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (6-10, 1-8) has been trying to find their footing on the court. The team looks to get back on track as they wrap up the non-conference portion of their schedule on Wednesday when they hit the road to face Salem at 7:30 PM. The Cardinals have played well in the second half of games over this four-game stretch, and they look to put it all together for a full 40-minute stretch.
Wheeling is coming off a road trip to Athens, West Virginia, that saw the two teams battle to a 6-6 score over the first four minutes of play. Concord would be the first to hit a run in the half, going on an 11-2 run, but the Cardinals would answer back to keep it close at 18-15 with 12:02 to play in the half. The teams would go back and forth through the first half, but a late 8-0 run from the Mountain Lions would send the teams into the locker room with Concord leading 47-39. Wheeling shot an efficient 50% (14-28) in the first half, but Concord's high-scoring offense just kept getting better. Wheeling accounted for just 10 points over the first 12 minutes of the new half, as the Mountain Lions hit over 60% of their shots and took an 80-57 lead. By then, the damage had been done as the Cardinals went on to fall 105-76.
As he has all season long, it was Sean Ealy who paced the Cardinal's effort, putting up 20 points and shooting 9-15 (60%) from the floor. It was the second time in the last three games that Ealy has gotten to the 20-point mark, and the sixth time this season he has accomplished the feat. The effort helped raise his season-average to 16.8 PPG, putting him at ninth in the conference in scoring average this season. Despite the current skid, Ealy has continued to be a consistent leader for the Cardinals, as they work to get back into the win column. With Ealy's strong scoring ability on the floor, he looks to get Wheeling back on the right track as they hit the end of the year stretch.
One of the Cardinal bench players who has been making the most of his opportunities as of late is Jovan Jovanovic. The freshman has been seeing time at the end of games as of late, and put up another strong performance, putting up eight points against Concord. He went 2-2 from three-point range and added a 2-3 mark from the free throw line to round out the day. It was a new career-high for the freshman who, in limited action this season, has been one of the Cardinal's top three-point shooters, hitting 60% of his shots from beyond the arc. The other double digit scorer for the Cardinals was Curtis Harrison IV, who has had a nice battle back after suffering an early season injury. Harrison put up 10 points in the effort against Concord, and over his last four games he is averaging 8.0 PPG while grabbing five or more rebounds in each of those games.
With 11 games left on the conference schedule, the Cardinals will look to use Wednesday night's non-conference action to get themselves going in the right direction. They are currently tied with West Virginia Wesleyan for the 10th and final spot in the 2025 MEC Tournament, and are two games behind Davis & Elkins to move up to the #9 spot. With their non-conference finale on Wednesday night, the Cardinals will look to use Wednesday night's game as a chance to get back on track. They still have one game remaining against each of their conference opponents and look to take what they learned from their first matchups and turn those into crucial victories down the stretch.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Tigers are meeting for the 32nd time in program history, with Salem holding a one-game advantage in the series at 16-15. When they travel to Salem, the Cardinals hold a 6-8 record compared to a 9-6 record on their home floor. However, the series's most recent success has gone to the Cardinals, who have won nine of the last 10 meetings between the two teams.
This will be the second time the two teams have met this season, with their first meeting coming on November 23rd, 2024. The Cardinals would win a close game inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center, beating Salem 75-74. It was a three-pointer from Jerry Saunders Jr. That won the game, as he led the team with 16 points on the day. The Cardinals had five players hit double figures on the day, with Caleb Murray (14), S.J. Hutchinson (12), William Gabbert (12), and Tee Harris Jr. (11) all hitting the mark.
The Details
Tip-off for Wednesday night's game is scheduled for 7:30 PM inside the T. Edward Davis Gymnasium on the campus of Salem University. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
