Wheeling Falls In Quarterfinals
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WHEELING -- It was a tale of two halves for both Wheeling and West Virginia State. While Wheeling was getting some easy baskets in the first half, West Virginia State was struggling from the field. After halftime, it was the Yellow Jackets seeing their shots go in while the Cardinals weren't able to buy a bucket. With that, West Virginia State started the second half on a 18-4 run and secured a 67-61 victory over Wheeling in the quarterfinals of the Mountain East Conference Tournament Friday night at WesBanco Arena.
The Yellow Jackets will take on top-seeded West Liberty in the semifinals tonight at 6.
"I thought we played excellent in the first half," Wheeling coach Will Ryan said. "We got some easy baskets, moved the ball pretty well and got some good looks. We struggled finishing around the rim. Their length and athleticism bothered us. In the second, they sat in the zone for the whole half and we couldn't throw it in the ocean and struggled to score. We didn't generate enough points from the free throw line. I think when we played them last time at our place, we shot around 30, 38 free throws and that's where we got them. Unfortunately, we went through too many lulls in the second half and ended up doing us in."
The Cardinals led by as many as 13 points after a Jordan Reid 3-pointer with 4:05 left in the first half. That was the last field goal the Cardinals would score for the remainder of the half.
A Glen Abram shot from behind the arc with 4 seconds remaining cut the Yellow Jackets' deficit to eight as the score read 35-27 at the half.
And from the second half inbounds, it was all Yellow Jackets. Abram hit his fifth 3-pointer of the night to give West Virginia State the lead for good at the 13:11 mark as the score read 41-39. The lead increased to as many as nine, after Abram swished three free throws with 8:40 remaining.
The loss ends the Cardinals season with a record of 14-13. Even in defeat, the Cardinals were the surprise of the season for the conference. After being picked to finish last in the MEC standings, the Cardinals claimed the No. 5 seed.
"It's been a long ride," Reid said about the season. "I wasn't recruited out of junior college. Coach texted me probably two weeks before school started. I didn't visit, I didn't know who he was. I just took the opportunity and ran with it. The season's been great. I came here and they welcomed me with open arms. My teammates, Manny (Ansong) did a great job telling me about the school and what it's like. I just want to thank my teammates. It's been a heckuva year. We felt like we could be anybody in the conference. We came up short, but I think we got the respect we deserve but, I'm not into moral victories, though."
The Cardinals made one final push and were able to get it within three points.
A Jarett Haines 3-pointer put the score at 64-61 with 35 seconds left. However, two free throws by Abram sealed it.
Reid, who was named Second Team All-MEC, finished with 24 points while Ansong tallied a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Haines rounded out the double figure scorers with 11 points.
"We worked really hard throughout the fall and winter and little bit of spring," Ansong said. "We have great coaching by Coach Ryan, Coach (Nate) Hendel and Coach Evan (Morrissey). They worked us very hard throughout the whole year and we believed in ourselves that we are a top team. We never thought we were a last seed, we persevered and played our hardest.
For the Yellow Jackets, Abram tallied a game-high 30 points as he went 5 of 8 from behind the 3-point arc while Anthony Pittman netted 11.