Wheeling, W. Va. – Saturday's home Athletic triple header ended with a high scoring affair as the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (5-19, 3-15) took on Glenville State. Both teams got over the 90-point mark, but the Cardinals would end up on the losing side as they fell to the Pioneers 98-95. Three Cardinals finished in double figures on the day as they battled until the final moments of the game.
With ten minutes to go in the game, the Cardinals were staked to a five-point lead, a lead they had held for most of the game, at 78-73. Ryan Reasbeck would hit a layup to push Wheeling to the 80-point mark, but Glenville State continued to battle closer in the game. A Jacquez Yow dunk would separate the teams by just one point before a pair of Marcus Johnson free throws put Wheeling ahead once again at 82-79. A Glenville State three-pointer would tie the game up, but again the Cardinals went to the free throw line as John Korte hit a pair of free throws to make it 84-82. The teams would trade the next four points before Glenville State's Jordan Turbo Smith hit a three-pointer to give Glenville State the lead at 87-86. They would tack on three more points to make it 90-86 as the Cardinals found themselves fighting back.
Trey Stoffer and Korte would both go 2-2 from the free throw line to bring Wheeling back to within two at 92-90 with 2:50 left on the clock. Korte would get the Cardinals back to within one point with a big three before the teams traded a pair of free throws. Glenville's Yow would hit two and Stoffer would add two to bring the score to 96-95. Glenville State would add two more free throws before Wheeling called timeout with 11 seconds to go. The Cardinals had one more possession and Korte shot what would have been the game tying three with three seconds to go, but it would fall short of the mark and Wheeling would end up falling 98-95.
Korte came up big for his team over the final ten minutes of play, and finished the night with 23 points while shooting a team-best 7-14 from the floor. Korte would also lead the defense, picking up his seventh double double of the year as he finished with 11 rebounds. Marcus Johnson would lead the Cardinals offensively on the day, finishing with 28 points and just missing out on a double double of his own with nine rebounds. The final double figure scorers for the Cardinals was freshman Ryan Reasbeck, who finished with 16 points in the night which included a 3-7 mark from beyond the arc. The Cardinals now move to 3-15 in conference play as they head into their final four games of the regular season.
In the first half, the Cardinals would take control of the game from the get-go, scoring six of the first eight points. William Gabbert, Johnson, and Andrew Taylor all got in on the action as the team was staked to a 6-2 lead. After Glenville State got back on the board, the Cardinals would add four unanswered points and led 10-4 with three and a half minutes of play. Just a minute and a half later, Glenville State was back in the game as they tied it at 12-12 with 15 minutes to play. The Pioneers would take their first lead on a pair of free throws, but a John Korte jumper got the Cardinals back out in front. However, a 7-0 Pioneer run buy Glenville State back in the lead and they were ahead 20-17. The Cardinals would continue to trail past the 10 minute mark of the half, as Glenville State led 30-23.
The Cardinals would begin to battle back as they turned to their bench and Reasbeck. He hit a three off the bench that would get Wheeling going and had them trailing just 36-35 with 6:45 left before the half. Korte would then hit a three and the Cardinals were back out in front 38-36. They led all the way to the 2:50 mark before Glenville State would retake the lead at 44-43. The two teams went back and forth for those final 2:50, with the game coming tied at 46-46 with 47 seconds to go. However, Greenville State would head into the locker room leading 48-47. The second half would see both teams continue their offensive stretch, leading to the 98-95 final score.
The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team returns to action on Wednesday, February 15th when they hit the road to battle Fairmont State at 7:30 PM.