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GLENVILLE -- The Wheeling University men's basketball team held on for a 96-92 win at Glenville State on Wednesday night inside the Waco Center.
Four players scored in double figures, led by a team-high 21 points by sophomore forward Emmanuel Ansong. Sophomore guard Jay Gentry filled up his line with 20 points, six rebounds and four assists. Junior guards Jarett Haines and Jordan Reid chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The Cardinals (7-4, 4-3 MEC) opened the game with an 11-2 run through the first three and a half minutes of the contest. Glenville State trimmed the lead to one with eight straight, before another Wheeling run, including a basket-and-one by freshman John Korte, rebuilt the lead to 20-11 with 13:16 left in the first half.
The Pioneers (7-4, 5-2) rallied back with a 12-2 run to tie the game up at 23-23 just past the halfway mark of the opening period. After both teams traded baskets to even the game at 29-29, the Cardinals outscored Glenville State 17-7 over a four-minute stretch to establish a 46-36 lead with 1:53 to play in the first half.
The Pioneers used a traditional three-point play and a basket from long range to eventually slice the Wheeling lead to six, 48-42, at halftime.
The Cardinals rebuilt their lead to 13 with seven-straight points to open the second half and force a quick Glenville State timeout less than two minutes into the period.
The Cardinals hovered around a seven-point lead for the next 10 minutes, until a Pioneer trey cut the lead to 74-69 with 8:23 left in the game. Wheeling maintained the lead until another 3-pointer with 3:18 to play in the game tied the score up at 84-84, erasing what was once a double-digit lead.
The game was tied with 1:35 left on the clock when Reid buried a step-back 3-point shot to propel Wheeling to an 89-86 lead.
Most of the remaining points in the game were scored at the free-throw line. Glenville State made a pair on its end, before the Cardinals split two shots to make the score 90-88 with a minute left in the game.
The Pioneers missed a chance for the lead on its end, allowing Gentry to knock down two shots from the line to give Wheeling a 92-88 advantage with 40 seconds to play.
Wheeling Park graduate Phil Bledsoe (23.8 ppg.) finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds for Glenville State.
West Liberty 194
Concord 79
ATHENS, W.Va. -- West Liberty University cracked the century mark for the fourth straight game, running away to a victory against Concord in Mountain East Conference action at the Carter Center.
The host Mountain Lions (4-8, 2-5) kept things close for a half, trailing 51-46 at intermission, but Coach Ben Howlett's Hilltoppers (10-3, 5-2) opened up a 20-point lead midway through the second half and never looked back.
Junior All-American Dalton Bolon led all scorers with 22 points -- highlighted by a 9-for-9 showing from the foul line -- and grabbed 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
Will Yoakum, backed Bolon with 14 points and 10 boards for his second double-double in as many games but the Hilltoppers certainly didn't lack for firepower.
Junior guard Preston Boswell went 8-for-8 from the foul line to finish with a season-high 19 points while sophomore backcourter Malik McKinney added a season-high 18 points on 7 of 7 shooting from the floor.
Fellow sophomore guard Pat Robinson III joined the double-figure parade with 15 points.
WOMEN
Concord 83
West Liberty 71
ATHENS, W.Va. -- A second-quarter dry spell proved costly for the West Liberty as Concord handed the Hilltoppers a loss at the Carter Center.
In the end, the Mountain East Conference-leading Mountain Lions (9-3, 6-1) and their 1-2 punch of Madison May and Riley Fitzwater proved too much for Coach Kyle Cooper's cold-shooting Hilltoppers (6-7, 2-5) to overcome as a late-game surge came up short.
The 6-foot-1 May poured in a game-high 32 points to go along with 13 rebounds and went a sizzling 16 of 16 from the foul line. Fitzwater, a 6-4 post, added 22 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
An Audrey Tingle 3-pointer gave the Hilltoppers their largest lead of the night, 29-21, at the 6:13 mark but that's when the lid slammed down over the WLU basket.
West Liberty didn't make another shot for the rest of the half -- 0-for-10 -- and Concord took full advantage, closing out the quarter on a 19-2 run to carry a 40-31 lead into intermission.
Taylor Johnson led the way for West Liberty with 21 points while Belknap and Morgan Brunner finished with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Glenville State 152
Wheeling 81
GLENVILLE -- Wheeling University was handed a 125-81 loss at preseason league-favorite Glenville State inside the Waco Center.
The Cardinals drop to 3-8 on the season and 2-4 in Mountain East Conference play. Meanwhile, the Pioneers improve to 4-2 in league play, 8-2 overall.
Sophomore forward Lilly Ritz established a new season-high and led the Cardinals with 30 points and 14 rebounds in the loss.
Senior guard Khira Burton totaled 22 points, including 20 in the second half alone.