Wheeling, W. VA. – The energy inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center was at an all-time high as the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (11-5, 6-3) welcomed in Salem on Wednesday night . Wheeling fed off that energy early and road the momentum to an 85-69 win. It was a bounce back win on the home floor for the Cardinals, after they dropped each of their previous two contests inside the McDonough Center.
The Alma Grace McDonough Center was rocking right from the get-go, and the Cardinals took advantage of the momentum. After winning the opening tip, Alex Smith would grab the offensive rebound, and put up the second chance point for the Cardinals to give them a 2-0 lead. A Curtis Harrison IV dunk on the next possession got the crowd fired up, and sparked a run that lasted nearly four minutes for the Cardinals. They would score the game's first eight points, with Harrison IV accounting for four of those points, and the Cardinals took an 8-0 lead. Salem's Eman Lawal would get the Tiger's first points from the charity stripe, and by the 15-minute media, it was a Smith three that made it a 13-3 Wheeling lead. The Cardinal defense would continue to shine early on, holding Salem to just 10 points in 10 minutes, while seven Smith points led the way for the Cardinals.
Coming out of the media, Jalen Wenger would keep the Cardinal momentum rolling, hitting a jumper, and Harrison added his seventh points of the night to extend the Cardinal lead to 25-10 with 8:22 to go before the half. However, the Tigers would find their groove, outscoring Wheeling 11-4 over the next five minutes to pull to within eight points of the Cardinals with 3:54 to play before the break. A Tee Harris Jr. Dunk quickly shifted the momentum back to the Cardinals and another dunk a minute later made it 35-23. Wheeling was looking for one more clutch shot before the half, and they would turn to their bench to get it. Chance Hartwell would sub in with just over a minute to play, and hit a big three that got the Cardinals to the 40-point mark. He would take one more shot before the half, but it would fall short as the teams went into the locker room with Wheeling leading 40-30.
Wheeling spread the ball around through the half, with three different players with at least eight points, and were efficient, shooting 48.6% from the floor. Salem would get the first points of the new half, but a Murray three-pointer got the Cardinals back on track. Harris would add a three-pointer a few possessions later and Wheeling pushed their lead to 46-34 with 18:13 to go. It was just part of a parade of threes, with the Cardinals hitting four over the first five minutes. Before the 15-minute media, Murray would tack on two more long range shots, bringing his second half point total to nine, and Wheeling would lead 54-39 going into the break. Murray would get a steal coming out of the break, and Lamar Dampier would put it in the net to keep the scoring going. Wheeling would hit an 11-0 run that spanned nearly three minutes as the Cardinals led 62-39. Before the 10 minute mark hit, Wheeling would make it a 20-point game thanks to a Jalen Wenger three and the Cardinals led 70-50 with 10 to play.
The Cardinals spread the ball around throughout the night, with seven players finishing with eight or more points. The final 10 minutes would see Wheeling continue to share the ball, as Head Coach Chris Richardson dove into his depth. It was the bench that got things started, with Jerry Saunders Jr hitting five straight points after the media timeout to get Wheeling to the 75-point mark. However, Salem would not go down quietly as they worked the score back to 78-63 with just over three minutes to go. The bench would come in to finish the job, with Hartwell, Roy Paz Jr , and David Marshall each subbing in. The big shot to close it out came from Paz with just 29 seconds to play. After passing the ball in the beginning of the possession, Paz would get his chance taking a feed from Harrison. He would sink the shot for his first Cardinal points to close out the effort. It would bring the game to its final score of 85-69, giving the Cardinals their 11th win of the season.
It was a big night sharing the ball for the Cardinals, and Jerry Saunders Jr. led the way with 14 points off the bench. He would play a big role in the team's success from three-point range, going 4-6 from beyond the arc. Saunders was one of three Cardinals to hit double figures, with Tee Harris Jr. (12) and Curtis Harrison IV (11) each hitting the mark. It was Alex Smith leading the way on the glass, finishing with 12 rebounds, while falling just one point shy of a double-double at nine. Ayden Goll would be the leading passer for Wheeling, adding six assists to round out the effort. In total, 13 different players contributed to the win, with 12 of those 13 recording at least one stat in the winning effort.
The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team returns to action on Saturday, January 24th, when they travel to West Liberty with tip-off at 4 PM.
