Men's Basketball Falls in Shootout Against Glenville State
Glenville, W. Va. – On Saturday, the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (8-16, 7-11) was involved in a wild shootout at Glenville State. The game took a little longer than the Cardinals would have liked, but in the end, Wheeling would end up on the short end of the stick falling 96-90. The loss moves Wheeling to 7-11 in conference play as they try to fight for that sixth seed and a first-round bye in the Mountain East Conference playoffs.
Early on the two teams were locked in a back and forth battle as the offenses traded points. Glenville's John Williams got the game started with a layup and Jarett Haines responded to tie the game at 2-2. This back and forth would continue for the first four minutes of the game and the game was tied at 10-10 at the 16-minute mark of the game. Wheeling would gain their first advantage of the day when Haines hit a free throw and Andrew Taylor added a three-pointer to put the Cardinals ahead 16-15. However, the Pioneers would tie the game a few minutes later and the score sat at 18-18. Neither team could gain the advantage and the score would remain deadlocked at 26-26 as the clock ticked past 10 minutes.
Wheeling would have the first true run of the game when they scored four straight points and had their biggest lead of the game at 30-26. However, the Pioneers followed with four straight points of their own and tied the game at 30-30. The Pioneers would keep the offense going with an 11-2 run that opened the game up to 41-32 for the first time in the game. Taylor added a bucket to break the run and Wheeling added six more points before the quarter's end. The Pioneers added six more points of their own and the teams broke for the locker room with the score sitting at 47-38. Wheeling was efficient in the first half, shooting 55% from the floor and they were looking to keep it going in the second half.
As the second half began, both teams were back at it trading the first 12 points of the half over six minutes. The score remained at a nine-point deficit and after 14 minutes, the Cardinals trailed 59-50. Then, things got dark as the power in the Waco Center went out. The teams had to wait in the dark for a little over an hour and would resume play when the lights came back on. The Cardinals would end up outscoring the Pioneers over the final 14 minutes of play and scored 52 second-half points, but it wasn't enough as they would end up falling to Glenville State 96-90. The Cardinals now drop to 7-11 in conference play and continue to battle for the sixth seed in the MEC.
It was a big day for Wheeling's top two scorers as Jarett Haines and Jordan Reid each scored 30+ points in the game. Haines led the way with 35 points in the game and Reid followed him with 30 points. It was a season-high output for Haines and marked the second time this season that Reid went over the 30 point mark. Andrew Taylor was the other Cardinal to finish in double digits, putting up 14 points in the game. Wheeling ended the night shooting 50% from the floor and an impressive 62% from the free-throw line. Reid led the way from the free-throw line going 14-15 from the charity stripe.
The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team is back in action on Wednesday, February 16th, with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 pm.