North Panhandle Times

Men’s Basketball Returns Home for Battle with Concord

 2023 Mountain East Conference (MEC) play is in full swing as the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (2-11, 0-7) returns home for the first time since the new year. They host Concord on Saturday with tip-off at 4 PM as they bring MEC play to the Alma Grace McDonough Center for the first time in 2023. The Cardinals are looking for that elusive first conference win of the season as they hit the stretch run towards the 2023 MEC Tournament at WesBanco Arena. 

Last time out, the Cardinals got out to a hot start against Glenville State, before falling 100-76 in Glenville, West Virginia. Over the first 10 minutes of the game, the Pioneers built up a 30-17 lead, but the Cardinals were able to battle back. They scored 25 points over the final 10 minutes of play and tied things up at 42-42 heading into the locker room. However, Glenville would come out scoring 58 points in the second half and held Wheeling to just 34 points. The Cardinals once again got their bench players some work at the end of the game as they dropped to 0-7 in conference play but had three players finish with 16 points in the game. 

Leading the charge was freshman S.J. Hutchinson, who scored 16+ points for the second straight game, continuing his hot start to 2023. Since the turn of the calendar year, the freshman is averaging 17.0 points per game and has a 38.5 percentage from beyond the three-point line. He set his career-high two games ago with 18 points against Franciscan and continued that strong performance with the 16-point effort against Glenville State. He has raised his season average to 8.1 points per game and is becoming more and more involved in the Cardinal's offensive game plan as the season goes on. 

The other two double digit scorers for the Cardinals were Redshirt Senior Brent Price and Senior John Korte, who each also finished with 16 points. After missing the previous two games, Korte came back strong as the Cardinal's most efficient shooter from the floor. He went 7-11 on the night (63.6%) and was a perfect 2-2 from the free throw line. Price had missed the game against Franciscan and came off the bench for the first time this season against Glenville State. He went over the 15-point mark for the fifth time this season and brought his average up to 14.2 points per game this season. The trio looks to lead the Cardinals through the 2023 portion of the schedule as they look to climb their way back into MEC Tournament contention. 

The Cardinals enter Saturday in 12th place in the conference but are still very much in position to get into the MEC Tournament hunt. They sit just one game behind both Frostburg State and West Virginia Wesleyan for a share of the 10th and final tournament spot and are just two games back of Alderson Broaddus for the #9 seed. With two games against Frostburg State and one each against Alderson Broaddus and West Virginia Wesleyan remaining on the schedule, there is still plenty of time for the Cardinals to make a run and get back to WesBanco Arena. 

The Matchup 

The Cardinals and Mountain Lions continue their historic rivalry on Saturday, meeting for the 39th time in program history with the Cardinals leading the all-time series at 25-13. A lot of that success has come here in Wheeling, with the Cardinals going 14-5 against Concord on their home court. The two teams split the season series last year, with the home team winning in each of the two games. 

Their last meeting came in Wheeling as the Cardinals took down the Mountain Lions in an 82-80 thriller in the Alma Grace McDonough Center. Former Cardinal Jarett Haines led the effort in that game with 28 points while John Korte (16), Brent Price (15), and Andrew Taylor (13) each scored in double figures on the night. 

The Details 

Tip-off for Saturday afternoon's game is scheduled for 4 PM inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE. 

Original source can be found here