FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- #18 Fairmont State Men's Basketball held the Wheeling University Cardinals in the second half to secure the 95-84 victory on Wednesday night inside Joe Retton Arena.

With the win, the Fighting Falcons are now 12-2 overall and 7-2 in Mountain East Conference play. Wheeling University falls to 4-11 on the season and 3-6 in conference action.

Isaiah Sanders got the Falcons on the board early with a three-pointer with 19:31 remaining in the first half on Wednesday evening. On the next offensive possession, Sanders collected his second consecutive three-pointer to push the advantage to six points for Fairmont State. Two free throws from George Mangas extended the Falcon lead to 22-13 with 11:47 left in the first stanza. Cole VonHandorf pushed the margin to 11 points off a fast break layup with 9:12 and Briggs Parris buried a three to gain the 12-point advantage at the 7:50 mark. The Cardinals cut the Falcon lead to single digits as Tre Massey connected on a jumper with 2:34 remaining. The two sides headed to the halftime break with Fairmont State up 46-36 after Zyon Dobbs hit a jumper with 22 seconds left.

Out of the break, Wheeling responded early as they sliced the margin in half after a made jumper from Andrew Taylor. The Falcons regained the double-digit margin after two consecutive layups by George Mangas at 53-43. Wheeling answered with a 12-0 to gain their first advantage of the contest, but Vonhandorf stopped the threat on the next possession as the teams were even at 55. The two squads traded baskets in the middle of the half before VonHandorf connected on a three with 11:52 left in the second half. Mangas followed up VonHandorf with a three of his to make the score 65-60 in favor of Fairmont State.

The Cardinals got within two points at the 4:59 mark, but Fairmont's Sanders scored to double the margin in favor of the Falcons. The Falcons held on down the stretch inside Joe Retton Arena and finished with the 95-84 win over Wheeling University.

VonHandorf paced the teams in scoring with 22 points on 10-12 shooting from the floor and 2-2 from beyond the arc. Mangas followed with 21 points on a perfect 9-9 from the field and collected four rebounds. Sanders picked up 18 points in tonight's win and Seth Younkin picked up his third double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 boards. Parris rounded out the Falcons in double-figures with 11 points and had three three-pointers.

Fairmont State shot a season-high 65.5% (38-58) from the field and made 11 threes on the night. The Cardinals were 36-77 (47.8%) from the floor as Andrew Taylor and Tre Massey registered 19 points each in the contest. The Fighting Falcons held the decisive margin inside the paint with 52 points in the paint to Wheeling's 32.

#18 Fairmont State Men's Basketball (12-2, 7-2 MEC) heads to #8 West Liberty (14-1, 8-1 MEC) in a rematch of the MEC Tournament Championship at 4 p.m. on the campus of West Liberty. The Falcons knocked off the Hilltoppers, 102-99, on March 7th, 2021 to earn its first conference tournament championship since 1984.