Wheeling, W. Va. – After battling through their exhibition schedule, the 70th season of Wheeling University Men's Basketball (1-0, 0-0) opened Monday night inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. The Cardinals welcomed in Ashland University for the first-ever meeting between the two programs and, after leading at halftime, Wheeling would have to battle back late in the game. It would be clutch threes from redshirt senior Alex Smith and a strong defensive push that led Wheeling to the 87-78 opening-night win.
After Ashland opened the game with an opening-possession lay-up, one of those new Cardinals got things going. Jake Stout would hit a three at the 17:56 mark to get Wheeling on the board. Those would be the only five points through the opening three minutes of play, but Ashland's defense would prevail. They would get two big steals over the next two minutes, as they went on a 7-0 run to take their lead to 10-3 as the clock ticked past 16 minutes. Moustapha Sanoh would get the answer the Cardinals were looking for with a dunk that made it 10-5. Another Ashland three from Christian Wilkins sent the game into the media timeout, with Wheeling trailing 13-5. That Eagle lead would balloon to 16-9 at the 13-minute mark of the half, and the Cardinals were once again looking for a big play.
This time, it would come courtesy of sophomore Kwynsie Pittsnogle, who slammed down a dunk to get the Cardinals back on track. Wheeling would end up going on a 9-4 swing that brought them to within four points of Ashland heading into the 10-minute media timeout. It was a three by D.J. Wingfield that capped the run, but Ashland would stay ahead, scoring back-to-back buckets that accounted for the only points over the next two minutes. Levon Jacobs was the next one to spark his team, with a pair of dunks sandwiching an Ayden Goll three to make it 27-24 with 6:33 to go before the break. The Cardinals kept chipping away at the Ashland lead, and with 2:45 left on the first-half clock, Derek Wilson hit a free throw that gave Wheeling a 30-29 lead. Wilson hit one more bucket to cap a short 4-0 run for the Cardinals, and Pittsnogle would drive into the paint for the final layup of the half. It sent Wheeling into the locker room with a 35-33 advantage, and Wheeling looked to build on their efficient shooting that saw them hit 46.15% of their shots from the floor.
Coming out of the halftime break, it would be a battle for supremacy between the two teams as they went blow for blow over the first seven minutes of the new half. The lead would change hands five times during the run, and it would be a Pittsnogle offensive tip-in that brought the game to even at 49-49 with 13:50 to play. A three-pointer from Ashland's Bryan Vlosich would get Ashland back out in front and set them on an 8-2 run that saw them go ahead 57-51. Head coach Chris Richardson would call on his bench for a big stop, and they would get one before Lamar Dampier finished strong on the other end. Wingfield would add another clutch three, and at the 10-minute media timeout, the score sat at 60-56 in favor of the Eagles. Some of the Cardinals' key bench players would help keep them in the game over the next five minutes, with Wilson leading the charge with five points to keep the Cardinals within three points of the Eagles.
However, with five minutes to play, Ashland's Christian Wilkins hit a three followed by a pair of free throws, and the Eagles would hold their biggest lead of the second half at 73-65 with 4:23 to play. Wheeling was looking for one more big play and would get it from their redshirt senior when it counted the most. Smith had been held off the board for the first 35 minutes of play, but hit a clutch three with 4:09 to play. After seeing one shot go in the net, Smith would catch fire, accounting for eight of the next 11 Cardinal points. It would be Smith that gave Wheeling the lead for good, lining up his second three-pointer with two minutes to go and adding another at the one-minute mark to put the Cardinals ahead 79-75. Wheeling's defense would need two more stops, and they would get them courtesy of Moustapha Sanoh. The senior would pick up a steal and a blocked shot over the next two possessions before Jacobs slammed down a dunk to close the night and give Wheeling the 87-78 victory.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was redshirt sophomore Ayden Goll, who finished with a team-best 21 points in the effort. He would get 10 of those from the charity stripe, going a perfect 10-10 while making 50% (5-10) of his shots from the floor. He was one of three Cardinals to finish in double figures on the day, with Jake Stout putting together a strong Cardinal debut with 14 points, while Smith's second-half surge had him finishing with 11. Smith would also tie with teammate Lamar Dampier for the team lead in rebounds with five, while Goll rounded out the day with a team-best five assists. With the win, Wheeling now starts 1-0 for the second straight season and moves to 4-1 over their last five home openers.
The Wheeling University Men's Basketball Team returns to action on Friday, November 13, when they open the West Liberty Tip-Off Classic against CAL-U at 7:30 PM.
