Box Score WISE, Va. – UVa-Wise men's basketball scored more than 100 points Monday night for the first time in the David J. Prior Convocation Center since Jan. 9, 2014, in a 104-76 win over former conference foe Montreat College (N.C.). The victory over the visiting Cavaliers of Montreat (1-6, 0-2 AAC) marks the first win of the season for the Cavaliers of UVa-Wise (1-5, 0-2 MEC), and the first win at home since Feb. 22, 2014.
 
The 28-point win is the largest margin of victory for the Cavs in a little over three years. UVa-Wise was a 40-point winner over visiting Bob Jones University (90-50) back on Jan. 9, 2012.
 
Tonight's game was an old Appalachian Athletic Conference battle as UVa-Wise competed in the AAC when it was a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), before becoming NCAA Division II members.
 
For the first time this season UVa-Wise out-rebounded its opponent, claiming a 55 to 36 advantage on the glass. The UVa-Wise Cavs got great bench production and plenty of scoring in the paint to dominate the game from the second part of the first half through the entirety of the second half.
 
UVa-Wise outscored Montreat 40-22 in points in the paint and was able to get 41 points from bench players.
 
The UVa-Wise Cavs trailed for much of the first part of the opening half before a steal and quick layup by sophomore point guard Philip Owens II (Virginia Beach, Va.) knotted the score up at 16-16 with 11:24 on the clock. Montreat would go up by one twice off of free throws before UVa-Wise took the lead 20-19 at the 8:56 mark of the first half after a layin by sophomore forward Dimitri Sousa (Sao Paulo, Brazil). From there the Cavs of UVa-Wise never looked back and led for the remainder of the game.
 
Holding onto one and two possession leads for the next three minutes of play the UVa-Wise Cavs' used stingy defense to hold Montreat scoreless for nearly five minutes from the 5:10 mark of the first half to the 30 second mark. UVa-Wise went on a 9-0 scoring run in the process capped by a layup from transfer junior forward Gervelle Kidd (Martinsville, Va.) to give the Cavs a 13-point advantage (42-29).
 
Montreat's Alonzo Mobley buried a three-pointer right before the break but UVa-Wise took a comfortable 10-point (42-32) lead into halftime.
 
The Cavs of UVa-Wise shot 38.9 percent (14-for-36) in the first 20 minutes of play and were 3-for-11 from distance (27.3 percent). The Cavaliers of Montreat went 11-for-32 (34.4 percent) in the opening half and were 4-for-12 (33.3 percent) from three-point land.
 
UVa-Wise began to find its stroke from outside the arc in the second half as a three-pointer from redshirt freshman shooting guard Camryn Fort (Fayetteville, N.C.) and a three by Kidd in the first two minutes of the second half increased the Cavs' lead to 15. A shot from outside the arc by senior forward Matt Day (Buckhorn, Ky.) with 15:56 to go gave UVa-Wise a 55-39 lead and it wouldn't stop there.
 
Day knocked down another three-pointer with 11:41 left to go, giving the UVa-Wise Cavs a 22-point lead. From that point forward Montreat would never get closer than 20 points for the rest of the game. A pair of Sousa layups gave UVa-Wise a 24-point advantage with just under 10 minutes left to play.
 
The Cavs of UVa-Wise held their largest lead of the game at 31 after a three-pointer from transfer sophomore guard Demarcus Edwards (Mount Vernon, Va.) with 41 ticks left. The two teams exchanged a pair of free throws in the finals seconds before Montreat's Sam McKinney drained a 31-foot three-point jumper right before time expired.
 
All told UVa-Wise shot 45.9 percent (34-for-74) in the game, including 52.6 percent (20-for-38) in the second half. The Cavs of UVa-Wise made a season-high 13 three-pointers on 44.8 percent (13-for-29) shooting from behind the arc. UVa-Wise went 10-for-18 (55.6 percent) in the second half alone.
 
Montreat finished the game going 22-for-67 (32.8 percent) from the floor and 8-for-26 (30.8 percent) from distance.
 
Sousa earned a career-high 20 points to lead UVa-Wise while redshirt freshman guard Lashain Matthews (Staunton, Va.) scored a career-high 17 points and dished out a career-high seven assists.
 
Kidd and Day both earned a double-double on the night. Day tied his career-high in rebounds (14) and assists (five) as he finished with 14 points. Kidd's double-double was the first of his career, tallying a career-high 13 points to go along with a career-high 10 boards.
 
Edwards finished with eight points for a new career-high.
 
Montreat was led by Amir Davis with 14 points, six rebounds and three assists followed by McKinney with 12 points and five boards. Deonta Patterson scored 11 points for the Cavaliers of Montreat while Alonzo Mobley contributed nine points and Cody Miller added seven rebounds.
 
The Cavs will continue their three-game homestand Thursday when UVa-Wise steps back into conference play to take West Virginia Wesleyan at 7:30 p.m. Saturday the Cavs will host Glenville State to complete the homestand.
 
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