Men's Basketball Falls on the Road Against Frostburg State
Fairmont, MD. – As the Mountain East Conference (MEC) men's basketball season comes down to its final week, the Wheeling Men's Basketball team (8-18, 7-13) hit the road looking to get momentum on their side. They traveled to Frostburg, Maryland, where they fell to Frostburg State 90-72 after a second-half surge by the Bobcats. The loss drops them two games back of Concord from the #6 seed, as they try and keep the first-round bye hopes alive with two games to go.
At the start of the game, sophomore Andrew Taylor got the offense going with a three-pointer as Wheeling came out and scored the first five points of the game. However, that fast start would quickly go away as Frostburg State went on a 17-0 run over the next six minutes that turned a 5-0 Wheeling less into a 17-5 deficit with 14 minutes left before halftime. The Cardinals were down but not out as John Korte hit a layup and the Cardinals would begin to fight their way back into the game. Wheeling would score nine of the next 12 points and got to within six points of the Bobcats with 11:13 to play in the first half. The Bobcats would hit another three before a layup from Brent Price made it a nine-point game with 10 to go in the first half.
That three-pointer would spark an 11-2 run for the Cardinals that got Wheeling within two points, making it a 27-25 game. Korte hit another free throw that would make it a one-point game, and just like that the Cardinals were back in it. Wheeling would then take its first lead since the beginning of the game, putting together a 6-0 run that was capped off by a Jordan Reid jumper and had the Cardinals out in front 32-27. However, over the final four minutes of the half, Frostburg State scored nine straight points to make it a 36-32 Frostburg State lead. Senior Jay Gentry hit a jumper to end the half and Wheeling went into the locker room down 36-34. It was a big comeback so far for Wheeling, but they look to keep it going in the second half to pull out the win.
As that second half began, both teams kept trading points over the first five minutes, and it remained a one-point game with 15 and a half minutes to play. A 7-0 run by the Bobcats would be the first official run of the half and gave the Bobcats a 55-46 advantage. Taylor would then hit a jumper and Price added a three-pointer that made it a six-point game, and Reid added a jumper that had Wheeling down 63-53 with 10 minutes to play. Wheeling had gone shot for shot with Fairmont early on but began falling behind. They looked to chip away at the Frostburg lead over the final 10 minutes and try and pick up the win.
However, Frostburg State put together another 7-1 run and made it a 70-54 game as the clock ticked past eight minutes to play. Haines would then add three straight points and Reid had a layup that got Wheeling above the 60-point mark. They still trailed 75-62 but were once again on the comeback trail and were trying to close out the victory. The Bobcats would put the game out of reach with another 7-0 run that made it an 82-62 game. The Cardinals would outscore Frostburg State 10-8 over the final two minutes, but the damage had been done as Wheeling fell 90-72 and dropped to 7-13 in conference play.
Jarett Haines led Wheeling's offensive attack, scoring 22 points and picking up a double-double with a team-high 12 rebounds. He shot 50% from the floor and went a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe while hitting two of his five free throws. Jordan Reid was the other player to finish in double digits for the Cardinals, finishing with 15 points on the night to go along with three rebounds. Behind those two, Wheeling had three other players finish with at least six points as William Gabbert, Brent Price, and Andrew Taylor all hit the mark. Wheeling shot 42% from the floor and 33% from the arc on the day as they return home to finish out the regular season before the MEC playoffs.
The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team is back in action on Wednesday, February 23rd when they take on Alderson Broaddus with tip-off at, 7:30 pm.