Box Score WISE, Va. – UVa-Wise men's basketball dropped a heartbreaker to visiting Glenville State 84-79 Saturday evening in the David J. Prior Convocation Center. The Cavaliers (1-7, 0-4 MEC) held a two-point lead with 32 seconds left and had an opportunity to score the go ahead basket with about 22.5 seconds left but a strong defensive play by the Pioneers (3-5, 2-2 MEC) resulted in a steal by Glenville State's Micah Thomas.
 
With only 5.2 seconds remaining and a pair of made free throws by the Pioneers, the Cavs were not able to advance the ball as junior forward Gervelle Kidd (Martinsville, Va.) threw the ball over the head of sophomore forward Dimitri Sousa (Sao Paulo, Brazil). After an UVa-Wise foul, Glenville State knocked down the final two free throws to secure the Pioneers win.
 
Trailing for most of the first five minutes of the game, the Cavs knotted the score up at 14 a piece after a layup from redshirt freshman guard Lashain Matthews (Staunton, Va.). Tied up again at 18-all with 10:52 to go in the first half, Matthews hit a deep three-pointer from about 25 feet out with his back foot on the V logo near Glenville State's bench. From there UVa-Wise led the remainder of the first half, even holding an 11-point lead at 44-33 with 1:59 to go in the half.
 
The Cavs entered the break up seven (46-39) and shot 46.9 percent (15-for-32) in the opening 20 minutes, including 53.8 percent (7-for-13) from beyond the arc. Glenville State shot 36.1 percent (13-for36) in the first half and only 27.8 percent (5-for-18) from distance.
 
The 46 first-half points was the most by the Cavs in a first half so far this season.
 
UVa-Wise came out slow in the second half but maintained its lead until the 9:26 mark when Glenville State's Jalon Plummer hit a three-pointer to tie the score at 63-63. A jumper by the Pioneers' Brett Morris put Glenville State up by two a little over a minute later.
 
Over the next two minutes and 45 seconds the Cavs stayed within one or two possessions of Glenville State before the Pioneers went on an 8-2 scoring run to increase their lead to 77-70 with 3:32 left. UVa-Wise then went on a 7-0 run of its own, comprised mainly of free throws, over the next two and a half minutes to tie the score up at 77-77 with only 55 seconds remaining.
 
A pair of free throws from sophomore guard Philip Owens II (Virginia Beach, Va.) gave the lead back to the Cavs for one final time with 32 seconds remaining. Following a Glenville State 30-second timeout, the Pioneers' Morris drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key with 26 seconds to go in what proved to be the dagger for the Cavs.
 
All told UVa-Wise shot 39.3 percent (24-for-61) for the game but only 31 percent (9-for-29) in the second half. The Cavs were 10-for-26 (38.5 percent) from behind the three-point line and 21-for-27 (77.8 percent) from the charity stripe.
 
The Pioneers shot 41.4 percent (29-for-70) for the game, including 47.1 percent (16-for-34) in the second half alone. Glenville State was 7-for-26 (26.9 percent) from distance and 19-for-28 (67.9 percent) at the free-throw line.
 
Despite holding a 26-16 rebounding advantage at halftime, UVa-Wise was outrebounded 43 to 31 for the game. Glenville State earned 42 points in the paint compared to just 22 from UVa-Wise. The Cavs committed 18 turnovers with the Pioneers making 27 points off of those turnovers.
 
Senior forward Matt Day (Buckhorn H.S.) earned his fourth double-double of the season with 30 points and 11 rebounds despite fouling out of the game in the final seconds and having to sit for almost a six-minute span in the second half due to foul trouble. Day was 8-for-13 from the field, including 5-for-6 from beyond the arc. The senior is now 22nd all-time on UVa-Wise's scoring list with 1,118 career points.
 
Owens provided the Cavs with 14 points, while Kidd earned 11 and Matthews added 10, all of which came in the first half. Redshirt freshman guard Camryn Fort (Fayetteville, N.C.) earned a career-high eight rebounds as redshirt sophomore Ricardo Hill Jr. (Cincinnati, Ohio) made a career-high four assists.
 
Glenville State was led by Morris who had 31 points and seven boards, followed by Plummer with 18 points and six rebounds. The Pioneers' Sedric Nady tallied 16 points but fouled out in the final two minutes. Brien Winston recorded 10 points and eight rebounds as Juwan Wells brought down 10 boards of his own.
 
The Cavs will now have eight days off from competition before heading to High Point, North Carolina, for an exhibition game against NCAA Division I High Point University Sunday, Dec. 13. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m.
 
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