Box Score URBANA, Ohio – UVa-Wise men's basketball earned a 85-82 Mountain East Conference road win over Urbana University Sunday evening behind a career-high 31 points from sophomore forward Dimitri Sousa (São Paulo, Brazil, Brazil).
 
UVa-Wise used several second-half three-pointers and late free throws, along with some crucial defensive stops to clinch the victory. The Cavaliers (3-10, 1-6 MEC) got 18 points and 16 rebounds from senior forward Matt Day (Buckhorn, Ky.) on their way to outrebounding the host Blue Knights (1-11, 0-7 MEC), 40-34.
 
The win is the Cavs' first MEC win in nearly a year, their last coming at the University of Charleston (77-75) on Feb. 14 of 2015.
 
After Sousa scored the first points of the game on a layup, the Cavs got in a hole and trailed by nine at 21-12 with 8:58 remaining in the opening half. UVa-Wise then went on a 9-0 scoring run capped by a layup from redshirt freshman guard Lashain Matthews (Staunton, Va.) to tie up the score at 21-all at the 5:46 mark of the half.
 
Another lay-in by Sousa gave the Cavs a four-point lead a minute and 20 seconds from halftime before the Blue Knights tied up the score at 32-32 heading into the break.
 
UVa-Wise shot 36 percent (12-for-33) in the first half, including 30 percent (3-for-10) from downtown. Sousa tied his previous career-high in the first half with 22 points.
 
The Blue Knights made 10 of 30 (33 percent) first-half field goals and were 4-for-11 (36 percent) from beyond the arc. Urbana hit eight of 10 free throws in the first 20 minutes.
 
With the score tied at 50 a piece six and a half minutes into the second half the Cavs went on a 12-3 run that included two three-pointers by junior forward Gervelle Kidd (Martinsville, Va.). The Cavs would increase their advantage to the largest of the game after a layup by junior forward Corey Dick (Whitsett, N.C.), going up 70-60 at the nine minute mark of the second half.
 
Urbana would then go on a 10-0 run over the next three and a half minutes to tie up the contest once again at 70-70 with 5:49 to go.
 
A three-pointer by Day put the Cavs up by six (78-72) with 3:21 left. UVa-Wise maintained the two possession lead and held an 82-76 advantage after a Sousa layup with only 50 seconds remaining.
 
An untimely foul by Kidd allowed Urbana's Carlas Jackson to go to the free-throw line where he knocked down both foul shots. On the following inbound pass, the Blue Knight's Colin Curran stole the ball and quickly made a layup to cut the Cavs' lead to two (82-80) with 34 ticks left on the clock.
 
Redshirt sophomore guard Ricardo Hill Jr. (Cincinnati, Ohio) was fouled on the following Cavs' possession, he hit both free throws to give UVa-Wise a 84-80 lead with 27 seconds remaining.
 
Urbana's Jackson hit a jumper with 10 seconds to go to cut the deficit to two (84-82) and despite another steal by the Blue Knights on the following inbound pass, the Cavs found a way to get the ball back after a missed three-pointer. Hill Jr. closed out the game going one of two on a final trip to the free-throw line with 0.5 seconds remaining.
 
Jackson's three-quarters court heave at the buzzer fell well short to give the Cavs the win.
 
UVa-Wise finished the game shooting the ball at 47 percent (31-for-66). The Cavs were 10-for-25 (40 percent) from three-point land, hitting seven in the second half alone, and 13-for-19 (68 percent from the charity stripe.
 
Urbana was 27-for-64 (42 percent) from the field and 8-for-20 (40 percent) from beyond the arc. The Blue Knights only missed four free throws in the game, finishing 20-for-24 (83 percent).
 
The Cavs outscored the Blue Knights 38-26 on points in the paint.
 
Sousa made a career-high 13 field goals while redshirt freshman guard Camryn Fort (Fayetteville, N.C.) added 14 points. Sophomore guard Philip Owens II (Virginia Beach, Va.) totaled eight points and five assists as Matthews dished out five assists of his own. Day also contributed four assists to go along with his double double.
 
The Blue Knights were led by Jahmere Howze and Jackson, who each scored 21 points. Jackson also had seven rebounds for Urbana while Curran registered 15 points. Matt Csuhran tallied 10 points for the Blue Knights to go along with seven boards.
 
Assistant Coach Nathan Edick was the acting head coach for the Cavs tonight as Head Coach Blake Mellinger had to travel back to Wise for the birth of he and his wife's second child.
 
The Cavs will wrap up their four-game road trip to start 2016 Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. when they travel to South Euclid, Ohio, to take on Notre Dame College.
 
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