Box Score WISE, Va. – Senior forward Matt Day broke the single-game school record for points scored in a game with 49 and UVa-Wise men's basketball scored an emotional 102-89 win over West Virginia State Thursday on senior night in the David J. Prior Convocation Center.
 
The Buckhorn, Kentucky (Buckhorn H.S.), native lit up the scoreboard in his final game on the campus of UVa-Wise, breaking two other school records with 24 made free throws out of 27 free-throw attempts. The free-throw makes and attempts breaks Terry Edwards' 19-for-22 performance from the foul line against Mars Hill College during the 1982-83 season. Day's 49 points shatters the old record of 42 points held by both David Ray, against King College in the 1976-77 season, and Hobby Stuart, versus Pikeville College during the 1985-86 season.
 
The senior's 49 point and 24-for-27 free-throw shooting night are all single-game Mountain East Conference records. Day also becomes just the fifth player in all of NCAA Division II to score 49 points or more this season. Furthermore, his outing is the 14th-most points scored in a single-game by a men's basketball player in all NCAA divisions (I, II, III) this year.
 
The Cavaliers (4-23, 2-19 MEC) used a very strong first-half to defeat the visiting Yellow Jackets (6-20, 4-17 MEC) as they outscored West Virginia State 62-36 in the opening half. The 62 points were the most scored by the Cavs in a first half all season.
 
UVa-Wise jumped out to a 16 point lead in the first 10 minutes of the game as sophomore guard Philip Owens II (Virginia Beach, Va.) sank a three-pointer to give the Cavs a 31-15 advantage with 10:15 to go in the half. Later on in the half, Day connected on a jumper to give UVa-Wise a 45-25 lead with 4:59 remaining in the opening half.
 
The Cavs would increase their lead all the way to 26 at the break after Day hit seven consecutive free throws after being fouled on a three-point play, and following technical whistles on West Virginia's Tyrie Elliott and Head Coach Bryan Poore. UVa-Wise shot 51 percent (18-for-35) in the first half of play and went 9-for-20 from downtown, Day had 30 first-half points.
 
Consecutive three-pointers by sophomore forward Dimitri Sousa (São Paulo, Brazil) to begin the second half gave the Cavs a 30-point lead at 68-38, their largest of the night. UVa-Wise continued to lead the Yellow Jackets 82-56 with 10 minutes to go before West Virginia State went on an 18-4 scoring run over the next four minutes. All 18 points by the Yellow Jackets came courtesy of six consecutive three-pointers by Kenny Strong.
 
A three-pointer by West Virginia State's Awwal Reid cut the Cavs' lead to 11 at 88-77 with 5:25 to play before back-to-back layups by Day pushed UVa-Wise's advantage to 15. Another three by the Yellow Jackets' Strong and a free throw by both Reid and Markee Mazyck edged the lead down to 10 at 92-82 with 2:45 remaining. However, that would be as close as West Virginia State would get as Owens II hit a three-pointer on the next possession and Day knocked down seven foul shots in the final minutes.
 
Along with Day's career night, Owens II scored 27 points to go along with four rebounds, eight assists and only one turnover. Redshirt sophomore guard Ricardo Hill Jr. (Cincinnati, Ohio), Sousa, and sophomore guard Demarcus Edwards (Mount Vernon, Va.) each tallied eight points for UVa-Wise. Hill Jr. added five assists, while Day finished with a game-high 15 rebounds and Edwards grabbed a career-high nine boards.
 
Mazyck led the Yellow Jackets with 23 points as Strong finished with 22 on 7-for-11 shooting from distance. Elliott recorded 14 points for West Virginia State, while Terrance Jenkins scored 10 and Frank Webb earned a team-high eight rebounds to go along with seven points. The Yellow Jacket's Brent Bauer dished out eight assists.
 
A total of five technical fouls were called in the game with four being called on West Virginia State. In addition to the ones called on Coach Poore and Elliot, the Yellow Jackets' Cody Morris and Mazyck picked up excessive whistles. Day had the Cavs' lone technical.
 
The Cavs will now wrap up the regular season Saturday with a trip to Concord University in Athens, West Virginia, for a 4 p.m. tip-off.
 
Visit uvawisecavs.com for all Cavalier men's basketball news, statistics, complete schedule and more.