Wheeling, W. Va. - The second half of the 2024-2025 season officially kicked off on Saturday as the wheeling University Men's Basketball team (6-6, 1-4) welcome to Franciscan into the Alma Grace McDonough Center. After a tightly contested first half, the Cardinals scored almost 50 second half points to lead them to an 84-68 victory. Four Cardinals finished in double figures on the day as the team played its final tune-up before the second half Mountain East Conference (MEC) stretch.
Early on, the Baron's defense proved tough holding the Cardinals off the board for the first five minutes of play. During that time, Franciscan went on an 8-0 run and by the first media time out led by that same score. It would be a three-pointer from Sean Ealy That broke the run and got the Cardinal started on a run of their own. Wheeling would score the next 9 points, with Ealy contributing six of those, as they took a 9-8 lead. Franciscan would take the lead back on the next point via a layup from Josh Zimmerman, but a three-pointer from Caleb Murray put wheeling up for good at 12-11. The lead would not change hands for the remainder of the game with Wheeling having an answer every time Franciscan tried to crawl back.
That three pointer would be The start of another big day for Sean Ealy, who tied for the team lead with 15 points on the night. He would go 6-11 (54.5%) from the floor and played especially big from three-point range. He would go 3-5 from beyond the arc, barking the third straight game that Ealy has had at least three three-pointers in a game. The Cardinal's other big performer from beyond the ark was Caleb Murray, who finished with 13 points going 3-5 from long range. After giving the Cardinals the lead with 12:03 Left in the first half, Murray did his part to ensure his team would stay on top, adding five points down the stretch. The Cardinals slowly built their lead and a pair of Trevor Beresford free throws would give them a 10-point lead at halftime. Wheeling lead 35-25, but the barons were not ready to go down without a fight.
Franciscan would strike first to start the second half, with Travis Zimmerman dunking the ball, before Jerry Saunders Jr. Got the Cardinals going, he would pay a pair of free throws that sent them on a 5-0 run as they pushed their lead to 40-27. Ealy and Tee Harris Jr. O would play a big role early in the second half, with Ealy hitting the three-pointer to cap the 5-0 run while Harris added his dunk along the way. The Cardinals were staked to a 14-point lead by the 15 minute media time out and would turn to Alex Smith to begin to put the game out of reach. Smith began with a pair of free throws and immediately responded with a layup on the next possession to push Wheeling's lead to 49-32. As they have all season, the Cardinals would turn to the three ball to put the game away with Murray, S.J. Hutchinson, and William Gabbert each hitting down the stretch to put the game away.
Smith would be the other leader for the Cardinals on the day, finishing with 15 points to match Ealy for the team lead. Smith was the Cardinals most efficient shooter, finishing 5-6 (83.3%) and cemented his big day with a 5-7 showing from the free throw line. After serving as more of a defensive role player early in the year, Smith has shown his scoring ability scoring 15 or more points in two of his last three games. He added three rebounds and tied for the team lead with three assists as he continued to move the ball around effectively on the day. The final Cardinal to reach double digits was William Gabbert, who finished with 11 points on the day. Tee Harris Jr would lead the way with 10 rebounds while Jaylon Jackson and S.J. Hutchinson each added three assists to tie for the team lead.
For the second game in a row head coach Chris Richardson was able to turn to his depth. They continued to show improvement, playing the final 5 minutes and accounting for 10 points during that stretch. It began with Jovan Jovanovic who, after making his collegiate debut last time out, got things started with a three. Trevor Beresford added a pair of free throws and Jaylon Jackson would put up his first three-pointer of the day on the next possession. Jovanovic what score the final Cardinal points with a layup, Getting them to the 84 point mark. That would end up being the final score as Wheeling won 84-68 to move to 6-6 on the season. They look to carry that momentum as they start second half MEC play this week.
The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team Returns to action on Wednesday, January 8th, when they hit the road to face Fairmont State with tip off at 7:30 PM.
