WISE, Va. – The UVa-Wise men's basketball team begins its 2016-17 campaign and 62nd season Friday at 5 p.m. against Elizabeth City State University at the Earl Lloyd Classic in Institute, West Virginia.
 
For the third consecutive year, the Cavaliers will open up their season by taking on the Vikings of Elizabeth City State. It is the second-straight year UVa-Wise is participating in West Virginia State's Earl Lloyd Classic tournament as a cross-conference challenge to begin the season. In 2014, UVa-Wise defeated the Vikings 108-106 in double overtime but Elizabeth City State got the better of the Cavs last season and earned a four-point 73-69 victory. In that game a year ago, UVa-Wise shot just 33.9 percent from the field including going 4-for-21 (.19) from beyond the arc, despite hitting 27-of-29 free throws (.931). On the contrary, ECSU shot 41.8 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from downtown (6-of-14).
 
The Vikings went 9-15 in 2015-16 and posted a 6-10 record in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, falling to Fayetteville State 69-39 in the opening round of the CIAA Tournament. This season, ECSU will be without the services of key players DeCarlos Anderson, Miykael Faulcon and Stephen Asihene. Anderson and Faulcon accounted for a combined 31.7 points per game last year, which was about 46 percent of the Vikings' scoring. However, the Vikings do return three starters from a year ago in 5-foot-7 senior guard Clayton Cowell, 6-foot-6 senior forward Matthew McIntosh and 6-foot-6 senior forward Jermaine Brown. Clayton led ECSU in assists last season (80) and averaged 6.9 points per game, while Brown posted 5.2 rebounds per game and McIntosh averaged 5.9 points per game off of 47.3 percent shooting. The Vikings were picked to finish 11th in the CIAA this year with 23 total points, finishing ahead of Lincoln (Pa.) and behind Chowan University and Livingstone College in the preseason poll.
 
UVa-Wise is looking to begin the 2016-17 season on a high note after going 4-25 overall and 2-20 in Mountain East Conference play last year. The Cavs will have to do so without forward Matt Day, who averaged a double-double of 22.7 ppg and 10.6 rpg and accounted for nearly 30 percent of the Cavs' scoring last season as a senior. Picked to finish last in the MEC, UVa-Wise is eager to prove their preseason ranking wrong. The Cavs return just two starters and a total of five letter winners from a year ago, but welcome seven newcomers to the roster in addition to bringing back two players who redshirted last season. One of the starters returning for the Cavs is 6-foot-6 redshirt sophomore forward Dimitri Sousa (São Paulo, Brazil), who averaged the second-most points per game (14.9) and was second on the team in rebounds per game (4.9) in 2015-16. Sousa's 49.3 field-goal percentage was a UVa-Wise best among players who attempted more than 25 shots.
 
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