WISE, Va. – UVa-Wise opens up Mountain East Conference play Saturday afternoon at the University of Charleston, tipoff is slated for 4 p.m. from the Charleston Catholic High School Athletic Complex.
 
The Cavaliers take on a 2-0 University of Charleston team that picked up a pair of neutral-site wins this past weekend in Athens, West Virginia. The Golden Eagles defeated Winston-Salem State University 70-57 last Friday and earned an 80-72 win over Fayetteville State University last Saturday.
 
Picked to finish fifth in the Mountain East Conference this season, Charleston posted a 16-14 overall record and 12-10 league mark in 2015-16 and advanced to the MEC Tournament quarterfinals where the Golden Eagles were defeated 75-61 by Concord University. UVa-Wise dropped both contests to Charleston a year ago, falling 79-64 in Wise and taking a 78-58 defeat in Charleston. The Cavs are 1-5 against Charleston since joining the MEC with their lone win coming during the 2014-15 season. Its only conference win during that season, UVa-Wise won a close 77-75 contest at Charleston on Valentine's Day of 2015.
 
Saturday afternoon's game will be the Golden Eagles' home opener after going 8-5 in home contests a year ago. Charleston has had to play home games away from campus all of last year and the beginning of this season due to the school's new Innovation Center being constructed. The new arena is set to open Saturday, Dec. 3.
 
The Golden Eagles have been led in their first two games by senior guard Elliott Cole, who scored 12 points against Winston-Salem State and 24 in Charleston's win over Fayetteville State. Through two games, 6-foot-8 senior forward Justin Coleman has averaged a double-double of 10.5 points per game and 11 rebounds per game, while 6-foot-3 junior guard Keir Anderson has tallied 29 points on 11-of-17 (.647) shooting. Coleman earned a double-double in each game against UVa-Wise a year ago, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 boards in both contests. Junior guard Shaq Speights (10 ppg) is the fourth Golden Eagle averaging double-figure scoring after two games played.
 
UVa-Wise is looking to rebound from a wire-to-wire 96-91 overtime loss at Carson-Newman University Wednesday night. Despite leading for the majority of the game and holding an eight-point advantage with three and a half minutes to play, the Cavs were unable to come away with a win as the Eagles outscored UVa-Wise 9-1 over the final 3:15 of regulation to send the game into overtime. After grabbing a five-point, 88-83 lead in the first minute of OT, UVa-Wise saw Carson-Newman outscore the Cavs 13-3 in the final four minutes of the extra period to claim the victory.
 
Redshirt sophomore forward Dimitri Sousa (São Paulo, Brazil) scored a career-high 35 points on 14-of-23 shooting in the loss, his 14 makes also a career best. Offensively, UVa-Wise is averaging 89.3 points per game through three games.
 
Fans looking to attend Saturday's game will be able to find the Charleston Catholic High School Athletic Complex at 10 Dee Dr, Charleston, WV 25311.
 
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