North Panhandle Times

Early Charge Not Enough as Men’s Basketball Falls to Glenville State

 After ending 2022 with a win, the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (2-11, 0-7) began 2023 on Wednesday night when they took on Glenville State. After a strong start in the first half, the Cardinals would end up falling to the Pioneers 100-76. Three different Cardinals scored 16 points in the game, but it wasn't enough as they fell to 0-7 in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play.

The first half was full of offense, with the team's combining for 84 points in the first 20 minutes. That offense got started right away, with 14 points coming in the game's first 14 minutes of play. Andrew Taylor got the scoring started with a layup, and four points courtesy of John Korte made it an 8-6 Glenville lead at the 18:02 mark. Glenville State would hit the first big run of the game, scoringeight of the next 11 points and extended their lead to 16-9. Marcus Johnson broke the run with a layup and by the first media timeout the score sat at 16-11. The Pioneers offense kept coming as they extended their lead to 23-11 before Brent Price hit a layup to break the run, but as the clock ticked past the 10 minute mark, Glenville State would lead 30-17 with the Cardinals looking to battle back.

John Korte would start the Cardinals offense, hitting two free throws and a Zion Suddeth layup helped cut the Pioneer lead to 30-21. Those shots would start an 8-0 run as the Cardinals turned what was a 13 points Pioneer lead into just a five-point deficit. William Gabbert would get involved hitting a layup, but Glenville State was back on offense and got their lead back to 38-27 with 4:33 left before the break. Price would be the one to get his team going again, scoring five straight points with a three and a dunk and a Gabbert three-pointer completed the 8-0 run as Wheeling battled back to make it a 38-35 game. Johnson added a layup to make it 38-37, before four straight Pioneer points made it 42-37. As the half ticked away, S.J. Hutchinson would grt his team back in it with a three and a layup and the teams entered halftime tied at 42-42.

As the teams came out for the second half, Glenville State scored the first four points before a John Korte layup got the Cardinals on the board. Korte would add four more points and Wheeling trailed 52-48 with 15:38 to play. Glenville State would add on with an 8-3 run and as the media timeout hit, Glenville State led 62-51 Hutchinson built off his success at the end of the first half, accounting for the next eight Cardinals points, getting it done from both the floor and the free throw line. The freshman hit a three-pointer and went 3-3 from the free throw line during the run and made it a 70-57 game with 11:16 to play. Kevin Coleman JR. would then add a pair of free throws and as the clock ticked past the 10 minute mark, it was Glenville State 75, Wheeling 59.

The Pioneers offense would keep going with a 9-3 run, with the only Wheeling points coming on a Gabbert three-pointer, and with 8:01 to play the score sat at 84-62. As the half went on, the Pioneers continued to add on and Wheeling would end up going to their bench in the game's final three minutes with the score sitting at 93-71. After scoring his first career points against Franciscan, Raef Wykes added on to that total, hitting another three at the 45 second mark. The final seconds of the game saw Trevor Beresford get involved as he hit a layup to score the final bucket of the night. When the final buzzer sounded, the Cardinals fell 100-76, and scored 34 points over the final 10 minutes of the game.

The Cardinals offense continued to show growth on the court, with three different players scoring 16 points on the night. Brent Price, John Korte, and S.J. Hutchinson all hit the mark to lead the offense. Marcus Johnson led the defensive effort with six rebounds, while Trey Stoffer led the passing game with three assists. As a team, the Cardinals shot 39.7% from the floor and 27.6% from beyond the arc. 11 different Cardinals scored at least two points on the night and the Cardinals went to their bench for the second game in a row. As they get set to return home this weekend, the Cardinals look for continued growth as they search for that first conference win of the season.

The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team returns to action on Saturday, January 7th, when they take on Concord with tip-off scheduled for 4 PM. 

Original source can be found here