Wheeling, W. Va. – The First half of the 2025-2026 season came to an end for the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (7-3, 3-1) on Wednesday when they welcomed in Davis & Elkins. It was a back and forth game throughout the night, once again coming down to the final minutes of play, the Cardinals were able to hold on for the 92-84 win. It helped the Cardinals finish the first half with their best start to a season since the 2017-2018 campaign, the last time the team won the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Championship.
It was a battle in the paint early as the two teams big men would go back and forth. Curtis Harrison IV got things started for the Cardinals with a layup on the first possession, followed by a dunk on the next as the Cardinals held a 4-2 advantage. The back and forth continued over the opening three minutes of play and the Cardinals would continue to hold a slight 6-5 advantage at the 17:00 mark. However, a three from Caleb Murray would spark the offense on an 8-2 run that pushed the advantage to 13-8. Murray was responsible for two three-pointers on the run and by the media the Cardinals were staked to a 15-10 lead. Davis & Elkins was able to keep the Cardinals close, getting to within three points before the team hit another run. It was sparked by Kris English, who drove in for a layup, and Jerry Saunders Jr. added a three to keep the momentum rolling. It kicked off a 7-0 run for the Cardinals and by the 10-minute Mark they would be holding a 26-22 lead.
However, as was the story of the night, Davis & Elkins continued to have answers for the Cardinal pushes. Harrison and Jalen Wenger would help push the Wheeling advantage to 31-24, but the next four minutes would see the Senators come storming back. They outscored Wheeling 7-4 down the four minute stretch and, with 6:03 to play, the Cardinals lead was cut to 35-31. Five more Davis & Elkins points would flip the score for the first time since early in the half and Wheeling would trail 36-35 with five minutes to go. Wheeling would take the lead back on an Ayden Goll three and Murray would go in for a layup that put the Cardinals back out in front 40-36. It would be Murray and Goll that helped them maintain that advantage, with each player hitting big threes over the final five minutes of the half. However, the Senators would get the final strike of the half and the team went into the locker room with the score sitting even at 48-48.
The Cardinals shot a healthy 55% from the floor in that first half, including a 36% mark from three-point range. The tie would continue over the first three minutes of the new half as the score sat at 54-54 with 17:30 to go. It would be a defensive stop that for the Cardinals going as Tee Harris Jr. Picked up the steak and took it coast-to-coast for a dunk that put the Cardinals up 56-54. It would be the start of an 8-0 Cardinal run, capped off by a three-ball from Ayden Goll and the Cardinals were staked to a 62-54 advantage. Following the media timeout, however, Davis & Elkins came right back with an 8-1 run and would trail by just one-point with 13 minutes remaining on the clock. Saunders would hit a three that created some separation, but it was setting up for a wild finish as a free throw by Saunders would stake the Cardinals to a 69-68 lead with just 10 minutes to play.
Wheeling would continue to hold the slight lead over the Senators until the 6:42 mark of the half. A three-pointer from Dontrell Jenkins would give Davis & Elkins a 75-73 lead, but the Cardinals quickly tied things as Murray went into the paint for the layup. Goll would give the Cardinals the lead with Back-to-Back layups, the second of those being a three-point play as he helped the Cardinals build an 80-78 advantage. The game would be clinched at the free throw line for the Cardinals, with Wheeling going 5-6, including a 4-4 mark from Goll. The final nail in the coffin would come courtesy of Harris, who at the 41 second mark would hit a three-pointer that officially put the game out of reach. Four more free throws from Goll would get the Cardinals over the 90-point mark as they earned the 92-84 win it was the third win in a row for the Cardinals as they picked up their seventh win of the season.
Leading the way for the Cardinals once again was Ayden Goll, who reached the 30-point mark for the first time in his career. He would lead the Cardinal with 30 points on the day, while adding an 11-11 mark from the charity stripe and a 3-8 mark from three-point range. He was one of three Cardinals to hit double figures on the day, with Caleb Murray finishing right behind him with 16 points, going 4-10 from three-point range. Kris English would round out the double digit scorers, adding 12 points off the bench, with a majority of those coming in the first half. Curtis Harrison IV led the defensive game, finishing with a season-best 10 rebounds, while Alex Smith led the passing game with five assists. As a team, the Cardinals shot 51.6% from the floor and 34.4% from three-point range to help secure one of the beat starts in program history.
The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team returns to action on Saturday, January 3rd, when they battle West Virginia Wesleyan at 4 PM.
