Glenville, W.Va. – The Pioneers fell to Wheeling University 96-92 in the first conference match up of the new year. The Pioneers fall to 8-5 on the year and 5-2 in conference as the Cardinals improve to 7-4, 4-3 MEC.
 
Najee Scott notched a Pioneer career high 23 total points shooting 9-for-14 from the floor and 4-for-7 from deep.
 
How It Happened
 
First Half:
 
The Cardinals opened the contest on a short 4-0 run before a crowd roaring dunk by Phil Bledsoe would put the Pioneers down 4-2 early.
 
Wheeling responded by going on 7-0 run before Najee Scott and Seth Fallon ended their run by notching back to back triples.
 
Scott's layup and bucket from the strip with a jumper added by Steven Verplanken would reduce the Blue and White deficit 22-19 with 10:52 remaining in the half.
 
Verplancken would tie the contest at 23 and continue the tie to 29 all before WU extended their lead to 34-29.
 
Bledsoe would slow the Cardinal momentum with a triple followed by Verplancken's bucket from deep to trail 36-34 with 3:36 remaining in the half.
 
WU entered a 10-2 run before the Pioneers responded with a short 6-2 run to trail 48-42 going into the half.
 
At the half, the Pioneers shot 16-for-31 from the floor and 29% from deep as Wheeling shot 52% from the field and 3-for-11 from behind the arc.
 
Second Half:
 
WU started the second half with a 7-0 run to extend their lead 55-42. Bledsoe would score from deep followed by a jumper from Scott to reduce their deficit back to single digits.
 
Both teams would trade baskets back and forth at 10 a piece as WU maintained a 68-60 advantage over the Pioneers.
 
Seth Fallon would score back to back triples to force a Cardinal time-out reducing their deficit to six as 66-72 with under nine minutes remaining.
 
Najee Scott and Seth Fallon added back to back buckets form deep followed by a layup from Scott. The Cardinals would respond with a triple to close the Pioneer momentum but answered with a dunk by Hegel Augustin.
 
Bledsoe would add three points to trail the Cardinals by one before WU responded with a dunk to extend their lead 82-79.
Tyvon Taylor would add a pair of freebies but WU maintained a three-point lead until Bledsoe would tie the game at 84 all from deep.
 
Taylor's layup would gain the first Pioneer lead of the half at 86-84 with 2:30 remaining. 
 
Wheeling answered on a short 6-2 run as they regained a 90-88 lead.
 
Augustin would go 2-for-2 at the line to trail 92-90 with 18 seconds remaining, WU would mimic along with a layup from Augustin.
 
WU would add another pair of freebies with under five seconds remaining to fall 96-92.
 
Inside The Box Score
 
The Pioneers shot 46% from the floor and 14-for-36 from deep with eight blocks, 44 bench points and with just 37 points in the paint.
 
Phil Bledsoe scored 19 points and 13 rebounds while adding three blocks.
 
Tyvon Taylor connected with multiple Pioneers tallying seven assists while scoring  12 points with Seth Fallon.
 
The Cardinals shot 50% from the floor with just 6-for-20 from deep. WU scored 26 fast break points and 25 points off turnovers.
 
Wheeling was lead by Emmanuel Ansong who totaled 21 points and five rebounds.
 
Up Next
 
The Pioneers will return to action to face off against the Hilltoppers of West Liberty University, January 11^th. Tip-off is slated for 4pm.