Box Score CHARLESTON, W.Va. – UVa-Wise men's basketball dropped its fifth game in a row Tuesday night at the University of Charleston, falling by a score of 78-58 inside the Charleston Catholic High School Athletic Complex.
Â
Much like the two teams' first meeting this season, the Cavaliers (3-15, 1-11 MEC) were out-rebounded 39-23 by the host Golden Eagles (11-7, 8-4 MEC). Additionally, UVa-Wise was outscored by a count of 48-20 in points in the paint.
Â
The Golden Eagles jumped out to an early 16-4 lead over the Cavs at the first media timeout of the game as senior forward Jevonte Hughes scored 13 of Charleston's first 16 points. The Cavs continued to struggle to score points and fell behind by 18 after a layup by Charleston's Aleksander Kesic with 3:51 to go in the opening half. Charleston led by as much as 19 in the first half before senior forward
Matt Day (Buckhorn, Ky.) knocked down a jumper to send UVa-Wise into the break down 46-29.
Â
Charleston shot an impressive 68 percent (19-for-28) in the opening half and out-rebounded the Cavs 21-7. UVa-Wise shot the ball at only 39 percent (12-for-31) in the first 20 minutes of the game, including going 5-for-15 (33 percent) from beyond the arc.
Â
UVa-Wise began the second half with a 13-2 scoring run capped by a Day layup, edging down the Golden Eagles' lead to six at 48-42 with 16:57 to go. However, Charleston responded with an 8-0 run of its own to expand the Golden Eagles lead to 14 at 56-42 with 14:05 remaining.
Â
Over a period of about 12 and a half minutes the Cavs only scored seven points, from the 16:57 mark of the second half to the 4:32 mark. UVa-Wise trailed by as much as 26 in the second half and never got closer than 10 points in the final 15 minutes of the game. The Cavs ended the game on a 6-0 run with three free-throws by freshman forwards Zack McDaniel (Bowling Green, Ky.) and
Leandro Amador (São Paulo, Brazil), and a three by redshirt sophomore guard
Ricardo Hill Jr. (Cincinnati, Ohio).
Â
UVa-Wise shot 39 percent (22-for-56) for the game and were 7-for-26 (27 percent) from outside. The Cavs hit seven of 10 free-throws as the Golden Eagles were 31-for-56 (55 percent) from the field for the contest, including 6-for-20 (30 percent) from downtown and 10-for-11 (91 percent) from the foul line.
Â
Day led the Cavs with a near double-double of 25 points and eight rebounds, to go along with two assists. Sophomore forward
Dimitri Sousa (São Paulo, Brazil) had another nice game with 14 points, while Hill Jr. scored a career-high 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting that included going 3-for-4 from distance.
Â
The Golden Eagles were led by Hughes with a team-high 21 points, 19 of which were scored in the first half, and six rebounds. Charleston's Kesic scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds as Justin Coleman added 12 points and a game-high 10 boards. Starting point guard Tino DiTrapano tallied 11 points for the home Golden Eagles.
Â
The Cavs will return to Wise for a short, two-game homestand beginning with Shepherd University Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.
Â
Visit
uvawisecavs.com for all Cavalier men's basketball news, statistics, complete schedule and more.
Â