Buckhannon, W. Va. – After picking up a pair of big wins last week, the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (9-12, 4-9) officially made it a streak as they traveled to West Virginia Wesleyan. The Cardinals made an early push, outscoring the Bobcats over the first half, and it would be enough as the Cardinals held on for the 80-73 win. It is the first time the Cardinals have won three games in a row since February 1st – February 8th, 2020 as they continue pushing for the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament.
The Bobcats would start the scoring with a three pointer from Michael Batchelor and scored seven of the first nine points on the day. Jerry Saunders Jr. would account for the lone Cardinal bucket during the run and it would be a familiar face that got the Cardinals back on track. Sean Ealy would break the 7-2 run with a layup and added another to get the Cardinals within three points at 9-6. An Alex Smith free throw made it 9-7, but four straight Bobcat points made it 13-7 at the first media timeout. Wheeling got back to within four points of the Bobcats and Tee Harris Jr. added a three-pointer to make it a 15-14 game. It would be the Cardinal bench that gave them their first lead of the day, with Caleb Murray adding five points and Harris adding a dunk. One more Murray three would give the Cardinals a 24-21 lead as the 10-minute mark ticked by.
Wheeling was able to hold onto the lead, thanks to shots from Murray, Harris, and Smith, and the Cardinals held a 30-26 lead. Four straight Bobcat points tied the game at 30-30, but the Cardinals wouldn't give up the lead as Saunders made a shot that gave Wheeling a 32-30 lead with 7:11 left in the half. The next four minutes would see the defenses go back-to-back, with neither team able to get on the board. It wasn't until the 3:41 mark, when Alex Smith picked up a steal, that the Cardinals went down the court and Curtis Harrison IV dunked the ball. It sparked a 6-0 Cardinal run, that was broke by a Bobcat free throw. Wheeling would end up getting t r final five points of the half as well, with Ealy tipping in a layup and William Gabbert adding a three to make it 43-31 heading into halftime.
As they came out of the locker room, the Bobcats made some adjustments and would hit a 6-2 run that lasted the first three minutes of the new half. Ealy would break the run with a pair of free throws and pushes the run to 4-0 thanks to William Gabbert. However, it would be West Virginia Wesleyan that dominated the first 10 minutes of play, going on another run, this time 7-0, to make it a 49-44 game. With just over 12 minutes to play, the Cardinals would have to adjust back and Harrison got the momentum going in the right direction with a three-point play. He added a second three-point play thanks to a dunk and as ten minutes showed in regulation, the Cardinals were ahead 59-50.
After accounting for just two first half points, Harrison would go off in the second half, scoring 17 points over the final 20 minutes. He would add a second layup a few minutes after the 10-minute mark, but by the media timeout, West Virginia Wesleyan had made it a 65-59 game. The Cardinals would need one more push to seal the deal, and it would be Harrison that sparked that push. He would hit a layup coming out of the media timeout and was the beneficiary of a Smith steal, putting the ball through the hoop from three-point range. The Bobcats remained within single digits of the Cardinals, outscoring Wheeling 42-37 in the second half, but Harrison would sink the final two free throws and brought the game to its final score of 80-73.
It was Harrison who would lead the way for the Cardinals, finishing with 19 points off the bench, including a 7-8 (87.5%) mark from the floor. He would score 17 of those 19 points in the second half, helping the Cardinals secure a crucial victory down the stretch. Sean Ealy would finish right behind him with 14 points, while Caleb Murray added 10 points off the bench, including two three-pointers. Alex Smith would lead the defensive game for the Cardinals, finishing with 11 rebounds, and tied with teammates Sean Ealy with four assists for the team lead. As a team, the Cardinals shot a healthy 50.8% from the floor and 72.2% from the free throw line as they continue their momentum into February.
The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team returns to action on Saturday, December 8th, when they host Davis & Elkins with tip-off at 4 PM.
