Jesuit Handed First Loss 

West Liberty, WV, Nov. 21, 2009---Wheeling Jesuit men’s basketball team faced long-time rival West Liberty University in a non-conference game on Saturday evening in the Hilltopper Classic at West Liberty’s Academic Sports and Recreation Complex. 

In the first half, sophomore Andre Harris tallied 11 of his game-high 19 points as the two teams battled back-and-forth with the lead exchanging hands seven times. The Cardinals denied five shots with Harris leading the way three blocks while sophomore Steve Catich and freshman Ben Siefert each recorded one. 

Freshman Recardo Gaddy chipped in seven points in the first half, and sophomore Marquis Moore added six.

WJU’s defense held the Toppers to a 34% (13-38) effort from the field and 31% (4-13) from behind the arc as the Cards went to the break down three points 39-42. 

After the break, Wheeling Jesuit did not handle the Toppers full court pressure as well as they did in the first half. They committed 12 of their 31 turnovers in the first 9:41, leading to a 36-11 run by West Liberty.

 Despite the turnovers and transition points, the Cardinal defense continued to challenge West Liberty’s half court offense holding them to a gloomy 36% (29-80) shooting from the field and 33% (10-30) from the three point stripe. 

Joining Harris in double figures for the Cardinals was Steve Catich with 10 points. Harris finished with 10 rebounds, five blocked shots and three steals.

Although the Cardinals managed to come out of their season-opening weekend with a 1-1 record, Coach Danny Sancomb was far from pleased.

''We did not play very well in either of our games,'' he said. ''It's hard to contain a team like West Liberty when you don't take care of the ball. They only shot 36 percent tonight but their pressure hurt us at times and they were able to score off our turnovers.''