Reid's Double Double not enough as Men's Basketball Falls to Fairmont State
Wheeling, W. Va. – The road to the Mountain East Conference (MEC) playoffs continued on Wednesday when the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (8-17, 7-12) took on Fairmont State. After a back and forth battle throughout the first half, the Falcons would put up 41 second-half points and Wheeling just didn't have enough in the tank as they fell 75-68.
It was a back and forth affair throughout the first half and that began right from the opening tip-off as the two offenses traded points. John Korte got the offense started for Wheeling with a big three-pointer. The two teams battled back and forth throughout the first half and Fairmont State would have the slight 6-5 advantage over the first three minutes of play. Wheeling would tie the game at 8-8 on a three-pointer from Brent Price and the battle was on. The teams were still knotted at 13-13 with 12:50 left in the half before Wheeling went on its biggest run of the game to that point. They would score nine of the next 11 points, capping things off with a three-pointer from Jarett Haines. The run gave Wheeling a 22-15 lead and put them in control halfway through the first.
Fairmont State was next to get going, as they fought back to make it a three-point game over the first few minutes and made the score 24-21. A Jay Gentry three-pointer would put Wheeling up 27-21, but the Falcons would continue to battle and tied the game at 30-30 with 4:45 left before the half. Senior Jordan Beale would hit a big three that got Wheeling ahead 33-30. This was the lead they would hold and they nearly added on, but a Haines layup would be waved off. This sent the teams in the locker room with Wheeling leading 35-34. As a team, Wheeling shot 33.3% from the floor in the first half and was looking to make more shots in the second half.
Wheeling got the scoring started quickly with back-to-back buckets from Jay Gentry and Reid to extend the lead to 39-34. However, that is where things would take a turn for the worst as Fairmont State started going. On a 17-0 run that lasted the next nine minutes of the game. It took the score to 51-39 as Wheeling would be forced to play from behind. A Haines three-pointer broke the run and helped Wheeling battle back on a 5-2 run of their own that made it 54-44. Wheeling slowly worked their way back into the game and trailed 65-60 with 2:56 to go. Then, the dogfight would begin as the Cardinals tried to complete the comeback.
Fairmont State would get back on the board with five straight points and made it a 70-60 game with 1:18 to play. Price would make two big free throws for the team with 1:18 left on the clock and it would come down to the wire. A pair of buckets from the Falcons ended the scoring for Fairmont and a three-pointer from Korte would be the final score of the game as the Cardinals fell 75-68. Wheeling would once again shoot 33.3% from the field in the second half and 30% from beyond the arc. They look to bounce back on the road this weekend before ending the season with back-to-back home games.
Jordan Reid led the way for the Cardinals on the night scoring 22 points and pulling in 10 rebounds for the double-double. Teammate John Korte also pulled in a double-double for his team with 11 points and 13 rebounds and Brent Price rounded out the double-digit scoring efforts with 14 points of his own. Haines led Wheeling's passing game with a team-high five assists and put up eight points to fall just two points shy of a double-double.
The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team is back in action on Saturday, February 23rd, when they hit the road to face Frostburg State at 4 pm.