Wheeling, W. Va. – Throughout the early portion of the 2023-2024 season, the Wheeling University Men’s Basketball team (1-2, 0-0) has had to be road warriors, with their first four games coming on the road. They wrap up that four-game road stretch on Saturday with their Mountain East Conference (MEC) opener as they take on Notre Dame College. The Cardinals are looking to get off to a hot start on the road as they begin their journey back to the 2024 MEC Tournament.
Last time out, the Cardinals got their first win of the season as they made the trip to Buffalo, New York to take on D’Youville in non-conference action. Early on, D’Youville took the lead, scoring six of the first eight points, and the two teams went back and forth for the first 10 minutes of play. However, after the 10-minute media timeout, the Cardinals went on their first big run of the day, scoring 11 straight points. That momentum was enough to carry them to a 38-24 halftime lead. However, D’Youville wasn’t ready to go down without a fight, outscoring the Cardinals 52-44 over the final 20 minutes, and made it a two-point game with under a minute to play. However, a big three late would seal the Cardinal’s win as they picked up an 82-76 victory to move to 1-2 on the season.
Throughout their first three games of the season, the Cardinals have done a nice job of passing the ball around, with a different leading scorer each game. This time out, it was junior Sean Ealy’s turn to lead the way, setting a season-high with 17 points on the night. He shot an impressive 62.5% from the floor on the night but got most of his work done from the free throw line. The junior shot 7-8 from the free-throw line, nearly doubling the next closest teammate on the day. Ealy holds the second highest shooting percentage on the team out of eligible shooters this season, sitting at 55.6%, and he looks to continue that success as the team enters MEC play.
Helping to spread the ball around for the Cardinals this season has been senior Trey Stoffer, who enters play on Saturday leading the team with 12 assists this season. He has four or more assists in two of the first three games this season and has added more scoring to his game this season. He put up 12 points against D’Youville and is averaging 10.0 points per game. William Gabbert and Marcus Johnson each finished with 12 points on the night as they continued their strong starts to the season. Johnson leads the team with an average of 17.7 PPG while Gabbert sits behind him at 13.0 PPG as he is off to the best start of his collegiate career.
As they enter the conference portion of their schedule, the Cardinals are looking to bounce back after finishing as the #10 seed a year ago. They finished the year 4-18 in MEC play and of those 18 losses, 12 were by 10 points or less with eight of those games being by five points or less. As they enter the 2023-2024 season, the Cardinals feature a new look team with several transfers and new faces taking the court both in the starting lineup and on the bench and they are creating more scoring opportunities. The Cardinals have scored 80+ points in two of their first three games of the season and will look to continue their high scoring average as they begin the road to WesBanco Arena and the 2023 MEC Tournament.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Falcons are meeting for the 22nd time in program history, in a series that has been even with Notre Dame College leading the all-time series at 11-10. The home team has had the advantage throughout, with both teams holding a 6-4 record on their home courts. However, Notre Dame College has turned things on as late, winning the last seven meetings between the two teams, with Wheeling’s last win coming on November 23rd, 2019, when they picked up an 89-58 win inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center.
In their most recent meetings, the Cardinals hosted Notre Dame College, with the Falcons picking up an 85-81 win. Former Cardinal John Korte led the way with 29 points while former Cardinal Brent Price added 22 points in the effort. Both Price and Korte each picked up a double-double on the day with Price leading the defensive effort with 14 rebounds and Korte adding 10 rebounds on the night.
The Details
Tip-off for Saturday’s game is scheduled for 4 PM inside the Murphy Gymnasium on the campus of Notre Dame College. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.