North Panhandle Times

Men’s Basketball Bows Out in First Round MEC Matchup with Glenville State

The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team (6-23, 4-18) entered the 2023 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament as the #10 seed and was looking to make a run. They battled hard in their first round match on Wednesday, but in the end it wasn't enough as they fell to Glenville State 96-84. The Cardinals came on strong in the second half, outscoring Glenville State 50-44, but it wasn't enough to overtake the Pioneers.

Coming out of the gate, Glenville State was on a roll, scoring seven straight points before the Cardinals got on the board. It would be junior Andrew Taylor that got things started with a three-pointer that made it a 7-3 game. Taylor accounted for his team's first six points of the contest, including two free throws. Kevin Coleman Jr. got the Cardinals to within one point with a layup and Marcus Johnson added a layup that would give Wheeling the lead with 14:55 to go in the half. The lead would change hands twice over the next four minutes until Wheeling was once again leading 14-13. The Cardinals would then hit their biggest run of the game at 4-2 and Wheeling was up 18-15. However, Glenville State battled back and led 26-19 as the 10 minute mark ticked away.

After Glenville State added another layup to make it 28-19, Wheeling began to battle back. They got back to within three points of the Pioneers, scoring six straight points to make it a 28-25 game. Glenvulle's Jordan Turbo Smith would hit a three to create separation but the Cardinals once again with a pair of free throws from Marcus Johnson and cut the Pioneers lead to 33-27. Glenville State added five straight points before wheeling came back and made it a 38-30 game with 4:26 to go before the half. However, the Cardinals offense would score just four more points over the final four minutes of the half as Glenville State continue to add to their lead. They went into the locker room ahead 52-34 as Wheeling would be looking for a comeback.

The Pioneers would once again come out strong in the second half, as Turbo Smith hit three pointer to get things started. It was the first of two three pointers for the Pioneers, as they scored eight of the first 10 points in the new half. The Cardinals needed a big shot and got one from Brent Price when he hit a jumper with 18:01 to play. It would kick off a 7-2 run for the Cardinals that saw them cut into the Pioneer lead. They trailed 62-43 at the first media time out and cut it to 65-47 after a pair of Johnson layups. Wheeling cut the Glenville State lead to under 20 points after a pair of Trey Stoffer free throws, I'm a 10 minutes to play The Cardinals found themselves behind 74-58.

The Cardinal come back was put on hold as Glendale State scored 12 of the next 14 points and made it a 86-62 game with 7:43 to play. After Glenville State extended their lead to 90-65, The Cardinals got a spark after Taylor slammed down a dunk. Stoffer Following it up with a big three-pointer As Wheeling got over the 70 point mark. The final 5 minutes of play would see three of the Cardinals leaders from this past year takeover. Marcus Johnson scored eight points over the final 5 minutes, including two big three-pointers, while Taylor added four to his day. Brent Price would reach a 20 point mark takes the four points over those 5 minutes as the Cardinals finished with 84 points on the night. However, it wasn't enough as they fell to the Pioneers 96-84 ending their run in the 2023 MEC Men's Basketball tournament.

Two different Cardinals finished with a double double on the day as Marcus Johnson and Brent Price each hit the mark. Johnson led the way with 25 points and was second on the team with 10 rebounds. Price led the defensive effort with 14 rebounds and added 20 points to his ledger as he picked up his first double double of the season. Andrew Taylor finished behind them with a career-best 19 points and Trey Stoffer rounded out the double figure scorers with 10 points of his own. Head Coach Chris Richardson is proud of the growth his team showed this season and is excited fot the future.

"Just because our season is over doesn't mean the improvement stops," said Richardson. "Our journey continues in terms of building this program back to where it belongs. We aren't yet where we want to be but our best days are ahead of us I can assure you that."

The Wheeling University Men's Basketball team now heads into the off-season as they look to continue to make strides as a program. 

Original source can be found here