Haines’s 30-Point Effort Not Enough as Wheeling Falls to Concord
Athens, WV. – After having seniorJordan Reidreach the 1,000-point mark before the break, the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (4-10, 3-5) has another senior nearing the milestone in seniorJarett Haines. Haines scored a season-high 33 points in the team's game against Concord on Saturday, but it wasn't enough as the Cardinals fell to the Mountain Lions 92-84.
Haines entered the day needing 53 points to reach the 1,000-point mark and got more than half of it with a 33-point effort. It was the most points he has put up in a single game this season, as Wheeling once again had a big second half. Haines was one of four Cardinals to finish the day double digits asJohn Korte(17),Jordan Reid(12), andAndrew Taylor(10) all reached double figures in the game. As a unit, Wheeling shot 47.1% from the field and 31.8% from three-point range. The Cardinals dropped to 3-5 in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play but continued their stretch of high-scoring in the second half of games. They have now scored 158 points in the second half of games over their last three games and will try to bring that prowess to the first half of games.
In the early going, Concord got things going by scoring 11 of the first 16 points of the game, spanning the first five minutes. SeniorJordan ReidandJarett Haineshelped score those first five points, and they looked to get their teammates going. FreshmanTre Masseywould get that spark going when he hit a jumper at the 14:56 mark of the first half. The teams would trade the next six points as the Cardinals fought closer and made it a 19-11 game. Haines andAndrew Taylorgot the Cardinals the closest they would be to taking the lead in the first half, hitting back to back shots that made it 19-16, but the Mountain Lions answered with an 11-4 run that made it 32-20 with eight minutes left before halftime.
John Kortegot the Wheeling offense going again with a three-pointer, and the Cardinals scored seven of the next eight points to bring the score to 35-27. As the first half came to an end, Concord continued to score, racking up 14 points in eight minutes and blew their lead out to 49-27. Wheeling would get two more three-pointers from Haines and freshmanWilliam Gabbertbefore the halftime buzzer and the Cardinals trailed 49-33. Wheeling was shooting 42.2% from the floor in the first half, and 23% from beyond the arc. With Wheeling trailing by 17 at the half, they would need another strong second half just like they did in their previous two games.
As the second half began, Korte got hot from beyond the arc and nailed two three-pointers in the first three minutes of the half. However, Concord also hit a pair of threes during that same stretch, leaving the Wheeling deficit at 58-39. It was going to be a long comeback trail for the Cardinals, and they began it with a short 5-2 run, mostly from the free-throw line with both Korte and Haines hitting shots during the run. The deficit was cut to 15, and Wheeling wasn't done as a layup by Taylor put the ball back in their court. Wheeling took it and ran with it going on a 10-2 run to bring the score to 64-54 with 13 minutes to play. In their previous game, Wheeling battled back from down 17 points, and it was beginning to look like they would drum up some of that magic again.
However, as the game clock ticked down past the 10-minute mark, the Mountain Lions had built up their lead once again and led by 17 points. The Cardinals continued to fight, led by Haines, and brought the score back to a single-digit game with under two minutes to play. Haines scored 14 points during the run, and Wheeling was within striking distance at 86-77. Haines made another layup to bring it to 86-79 and a jumper by seniorJay Gentrymade it 88-91 with 49 seconds to go. But, the Mountain Lions would hit their free throws at the end of the game to secure the win. They hit all four of their free throws in that final 30 seconds as the Wheeling comeback fell just short and Concord won 92-84.
The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team is back in action on Wednesday, January 12th, when they head on the road to face Fairmont State.