WHEELING - The Wheeling Jesuit University's men's basketball team put Yogi Berra's famous line of ''it ain't over until it's over" to the supreme test during Monday night's thrill-packed 88-85 loss to West Virginia Wesleyan at the Alma Grace McDonough Center.
Trailing 86-80 after the Bobcats' torrid-shooting Raymont McElroy dropped in two free throws with 17 seconds remaining, the Cardinals came within a heart-breaking miss of a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that would have sent the game into overtime had the shot by Recardo Gaddy drop through the cords.
Just a few seconds earlier Gaddy had buried a 3 from the left wing, cutting the deficit to 86-83 and was followed by a quick timeout from Wheeling Jesuit coach Danny Sancomb. The ball was inbounded to McElroy and he was fouled again, this time with 8 seconds to play.
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Completing a sensational night in which he exploded to score 41 points, including a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line in the last 40 seconds, McElroy swished both shots, putting the lead at 88-83.
Incredibly, when the Cardinals rushed the ball into the front court, Pete Brogdon was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer. The huge mistake by the Bobcats sent Brogdon to the foul line for three shots and a chance to make it a two-point game with still 2.4 seconds to play.
After having his first attempt jump off the rim, Brogdon nailed the next two, giving Wheeling Jesuit a last desperate chance at tying the game if it could somehow steal the inbounds pass and throw up a shot toward the basket.
Unbelievably that is the way this scenario played out. Wesleyan's attempted inbounds pass toward the right sideline, was somehow knocked free by Gaddy who in the same motion, grabbed the ball and fired an off-balance shot toward the hoop.
The shot did everything but drop through the cylinder but agonizingly bounced away, leaving both teams shocked at what had nearly taken place.
Although frustrated and totally disappointed with the last-second defeat in what was a battle for fourth place in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the Cardinals' head coach praised his team's last-ditch effort.
''These guys don't quit," Sancomb said. ''During every timeout at the end of the game, I kept telling them keep playing, keep playing until there's no time on the clock.''
Overall, there were eight ties and nine lead exchanges during the frantic battle that saw Wesleyan escape with its 16th victory in 22 games, while Wheeling Jesuit's mark fell to 16-8. The two teams have identical records of 12-6 in the WVIAC as they fight it out for one of the top-seeded positions heading into the postseason tournament coming up in a couple of weeks.
McElroy, a 6-foot-2 senior from Milwaukee, was 13 of 22 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers. At the foul line he was 13 of 14 as the Bobcats connected on 22 of 26 free throws, compared with an 11 of 18 effort by the hosts.
Wesleyan's basically two-man offense against the Cardinals also saw the Bobcats smooth and powerful junior forward Kelsey Williams toss in 26 points.
''We have to do a better job of playing defense and not allow two players to beat us," Sancomb said. ''We also had turnovers and missed some shots late in the game that cost us."
Colby Wohlleb tossed in 10 points to give West Virginia Wesleyan three double-figure scorers while Reggie Chambers' all-around night included six points, six assists and six steals.
Wheeling Jesuit had four double-figure scorers, sparked by 21 points from Steve Catich, 15 of his total coming during the second half. Obi Ukwuoma was next with 15 points, while with 14 each were Ben Siefert and Brogdon
Brogdon came off the Cardinals bench in the first half to knock in three 3-pointers helping Wheeling leave the court at halftime with a 48-42 lead. Although sophomore Joe Prati scored just five points, he blocked five shots and provided some valuable minutes of relief duty underneath the basket on both ends.