Box Score WISE, Va. – The UVa-Wise men's basketball team dropped a 79-64 decision to the University of Charleston Saturday evening in the Cavaliers home and Mountain East Conference opener. The Golden Eagles (2-2, 1-0 MEC) used strong rebounding and stifling defense to hand the Cavs their third consecutive loss to begin the 2015-16 season and their first loss in conference play.
 
Charleston, who was picked to finish fifth in the MEC according the preseason poll voted upon by the league's head coaches, proved to be too powerful for the Cavs today. UVa-Wise was out-rebounded 55 to 31, including 16 to nine on the offensive glass, and was held to just 12 points in the paint while Charleston earned 40 points down low.
 
The Cavs played tough the first eight minutes of the contest tying the score at 14 a piece after two free throws from redshirt freshman Camryn Fort (Fayetteville, N.C.). However, the tie would remain short-lived as the Golden Eagles went on a 9-0 scoring run over the next four minutes to mount a 23-14 lead at the 7:58 mark of the first half.
 
A three-pointer by redshirt sophomore Ricardo Hill Jr. (Cincinnati, Ohio), his first points in a Cavalier uniform, cut the lead to six with 7:13 to go in the half and then a conventional three-point play by senior Matt Day (Buckhorn, Ky.) made it a five-point game at 27-22. With 4:58 left the deficit would not get any smaller for the Cavs in the opening half. The Golden Eagles would go on another 9-0 scoring run to push their lead to 14 with 2:07 remaining in the first half. Fort hit a three-pointer and knocked in two more free throws but that would be the only scoring from the Cavs in the final two minutes of the opening half.
 
The Golden Eagles took a 12-point 39-27 lead into halftime as the Cavs only 25 percent (9-for-36) in the first half, compared to Charleston's 45.2 percent (14-for-31). UVa-Wise was 4-for-14 from distance and 5-for-6 from the charity stripe in the half, while the Golden Eagles were only 2-for-7 from beyond the arc and 9-for-13 from the foul line. The Cavs were out-rebounded 30 to 18 in the first half.
 
Fort led the Cavs in the opening half, scoring nine points and recording five rebounds.
 
Personal fouls quickly began to mount up for UVa-Wise in the first two minutes of play to begin the second half. Four of the Cavs' five starters committed a foul in less than a minute of play early in the second half as the Golden Eagle remained in control. Both sophomore Dimitri Sousa (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and junior Gervelle Kidd (Martinsville, Va.) picked up their third fouls in the string of calls against the Cavs.
 
Trailing 46-34 with 16:35 remaining UVa-Wise got a huge three from Fort followed by a quick three-pointer by Day to cut the deficit to six with about a 16 minutes to go. Another shot from behind the arc, this time by sophomore Philip Owens II (Virginia Beach, Va.), narrowed the Golden Eagles' lead to five (48-43) at the 15:14 mark. The Cavs' momentum would be quickly thwarted though as the Golden Eagles responded with a three-pointer of their own to extend their lead to eight.
 
Another long ball by Charleston and a tip-in off of an offensive rebound gave the Golden Eagles a 13-point lead at 56-43 with 13:37 remaining. Two consecutive three-pointers from Kidd cut the deficit to seven (56-49) with 11:39 to go but that would be the closest the Cavs would get the rest of the game.
 
From the 9:38 mark of the second half to the end of the contest the Golden Eagles led by double digits. Charleston's lead was ballooned to 20 after a three-point basket by Darrion Stokes-Graham with only 2:07 left in the game and remained at 20 after a layup by Travon Williams.
 
Down 79-59 with 1:26 remaining Owens went on a 5-0 run himself to finish the game, hitting a three-pointer and making a pair of free throws.
 
UVa-Wise did shoot better in the second half at 35.5 percent (11-for-31), but so did the Golden Eagles at 48.3 percent (14-for-29). The Cavs went 7-for-16 from behind the arc in the second half for 43.8 percent and were a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line. The Golden Eagles shot 44.4 percent (4-for-9) from distance in the second half and 66.7 percent (8-for-12) from the charity stripe.
 
All told the Cavs only made 20 of 67 shots from the field for 29.9 percent but were 11-for-30 from behind the three-point line for 36.7 percent. The Cavs continued their strong free throw shooting, going 13-for-14 (.929).
 
The Golden Eagles finished shooting 46.7 percent (28-for-60) including 37.5 percent (6-for-16) from downtown and shot 68 percent (17-for-25) from the foul line.
 
Owens led the Cavs with 19 points on 6-for-11 shooting and five assists, while Fort had a career-high 16 points to go along with six rebounds. Kidd earned a career-high 12 points, going 4-for-5 on three-pointers. Day grabbed a team-high 10 boards and scored eight points for the Cavs.
 
Charleston was led by Aleksander Kesic who tallied 15 points and 12 rebounds followed by Justin Coleman with 12 points and 10 boards. Stokes-Graham finished with 10 points and six caroms while returning All-MEC Second Team selection Jevonte Hughes registered nine rebounds but was held to six points.
 
The Cavs will now travel to Institute, West Virginia, Monday for their first MEC road game at West Virginia State, tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
 
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