Wheeling University Falls Just Short Against Senators In MEC Opening Round
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WHEELING — Down by two, the Wheeling University Cardinals had the ball with 23 seconds to play inside WesBanco Arena, facing the Davis & Elkins Senators in their first-round matchup of the MEC tournament.
The Cardinals went for the win, but came up short. Caleb Murray's 3-pointer with three second left was off the mark, and D&E survived and advanced, 63-61.
Wheeling, seeded No. 9 in the tourney, finishes their season at 11-18, 6-14 inside the MEC. Davis & Elkins moves to 12-17 on the season and7-13 in the MEC as they now await top-seeded West Liberty (25-3, 18-2) tomorrow at 6 p.m. at WesBanco Arena.
Wheeling University trailed Davis & Elkins 37-30 at halftime and fell behind by as much as 15 in the second half, 47-32, but by the nine-minute mark the Cardinals had battled back to tie the game 51-51 with a free-throw by Curtis Harrison IV, and take the lead on his next free throw.
Wheeling actually grew their lead to as much as six points after a Tee Harris layup with under 3:30 to play, 61-55, but the Cardinals would not score again the rest of the way.
Wheeling shot 0-4 from the field, missed the front-end of two one-and-ones, and had a turnover down the stretch, while the Senators recieved scoring from Charleston Ponds, Dontrell Jenkins, Emmanuel Oladeru and Isaiah Buckley to pull ahead– though Oladeru and Buckley split their pivotal freethrows within the final minute to keep Wheeling within two points.
Jenkins nailed a pair of free throws to tie the game 61-61 at the 1:37 mark, and one foulline make apiece from Oladru and Buckley edged the Senators ahead by two.
Wheeling outpaced D&E in several categories despite the final score. The Cardinals had 15 fastbreak points to the Senators' nine, and scored 34 bench points to the Senators' 14.
Davis & Elkins did outscore Wheeling U. in the paint, 30-18, helped by a 53-41 rebounding advantage which led to a 18-4 second-chance points advantage.
Wheeling shot 20-62 from the field on the game, good for 32.3%, while Davis & Elkins shot 22-66 from the field, 33.3%. Either side made 14 free throws, though Wheeling attempted 18 and D&E attempted 25.
Caleb Murray led Wheeling University in scoring with 15 points, while All-MEC First-Teamer Sean Ealy scored 14. Tee Harris joined his teammates in double figures with 12.
Alex Smith had the team-high in rebounds with 10.
Nicholas Silva led all scorers with 16 for the Senators. He also had a game-high 13 rebounds.
Charleston Ponds finished with 11 points while Buckley and Jenkins each had nine.
Wheeling and Davis & Elkins had split their regular season series, each winning at home.