Wheeling, W. Va- After breaking the chains of a six-game losing streak and a seven-game Mountain East Conference (MEC) winless streak, the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (7-12), (2-9), is looking to build off their recent 77-70 victory over the Charleston Golden Eagles on Wednesday night. They will open the month of February with a trip to Institute, West Virginia, to take on the West Virginia State Yellow Jackets at 4 PM.

The Golden Eagles got off to a great start, going up 21-16 early in the contest. Still, the Cardinals were able to keep in touch thanks to a dominant first-half performance from William Gabbert. He recorded 18 of his 20 total points while going three of six from deep in the first 20 as Wheeling entered the half down 34-31. Jerry Saunders Jr. converted an and-one, and S.J Hutchinson connected from range to knot things up at 37 a piece out of the break. Wheeling took their first lead when senior guard Sean Ealy made good on his jumper with 16:23 left to play and never trailed again. Ealy's 22 second-half points pushed the Cardinal lead to as much as 10 points. Charleston made a comeback within the final five minutes, tying it up at 68, but a huge three-pointer from Caleb Murray secured the 77-70 win for the Cardinals.

Sean Ealy spearheaded the Wheeling offense in the second half. He allowed the Cardinals to outscore the Golden Eagles by double digits. Ealy's performance not only helped his team win but also eclipse the 1,500-point collegiate career milestone. There was no shortage of shots from Ealy, as he went 9 of 18 from the field. He currently leads the team with 330 points and averages 17.4 points per game, which is fifth in the MEC.  

William Gabbert led the charge in the first half with 18 points to keep Wheeling in the fight with Charleston. He was 8 of 14 from the field and 4 of 10 from range on the evening. Additionally, Caleb Murray clutched up and was the most efficient from behind the arc, connecting on three of his four attempts. 

The Matchup

The Cardinals and Yellow Jackets are meeting for the 42nd time in program history. West Virginia State has the slight upper hand in the all-time series, with 22 wins to 20 losses. In recent memory, Wheeling has not fared well against W.V.S.U., dropping the previous nine meetings, including an intense 85-83 loss inside the McDonough Center on December 11 of this season. S.J. Hutchinson led the Cardinal scorers with 22 points in that contest, followed closely by Sean Ealy with 20 points and William Gabbert with 14. 

The Yellow Jackets currently sit fourth in the MEC standings with a 6-6 conference record and are coming off a 118-76 loss to West Liberty on the 29th of January.

The Details

The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team will travel to take on the West Virginia State Yellow Jackets on February 1, 2025, at 4 PM. The game will be streamed HERE, and LiveStats can be viewed HERE.