Box Score WHEELING, W.Va. – The UVa-Wise men's basketball team came up just short in a valiant effort at sixth-ranked Wheeling Jesuit University Monday night in a Mountain East Conference thriller. The Cavaliers (3-13, 1-9 MEC) were edged 88-81 in overtime by the homestanding Cardinals (15-1, 9-1 MEC) after junior guard Jarin Hilson drained a top of the key 3-pointer as time expired in regulation, tying the score at 74-all and sending the game into the extra period.
 
UVa-Wise led for more than half of the contest and had a chance to ice the game with 5.1 seconds left in regulation but freshman forward Yesid Mosquera-Perea's (Quibdó, Chocó, Colombia) second free-throw attempt rolled off the rim to give Wheeling Jesuit one last chance down by three at 74-71. Following Hilson's 3-pointer at the buzzer of regulation, the Cardinals outscored the Cavs 14-7 in overtime after scoring the first seven points of the extra period.
 
After trailing 34-27 at the half and being down 13 twice in the second half, Wheeling Jesuit rallied to outscore the Cavs 33-20 in the final 12 and a half minutes of regulation. Despite going 11-of-22 (50 percent) from beyond the arc, including 11-of-17 (64.7 percent) in regulation, UVa-Wise was outrebounded 49-30 on the glass and gave up 20 offensive boards. Those offensive rebounds leading to 21 second-chance points for the Cardinals. Wheeling Jesuit scored 39 points off the bench, compared to just 10 by the Cavs, and outscored UVa-Wise 40-28 in points in the paint.
 
Ranked No. 6 according the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll, the Cardinals led for the majority of the opening 10 minutes of the game and took a four-point lead when Kyle Ritz connected on a 3-pointer. A quick five-point spurt in 45 seconds by UVa-Wise gave the Cavs their second lead of the game at 19-18 with 9:15 to go in the first half. Trailing by three at 24-21 with 6:08 remaining in the half, UVa-Wise outscored the Cardinals 13-3 in the final six minutes of the first half to take a seven-point, 34-27 lead into the break.
 
The Cavs shot 44 percent (11-of-25) from the field in the opening half and went 4-for-8 from downtown and 8-for-10 at the foul line. UVa-Wise held Wheeling Jesuit to 35.7 percent (10-of-28) first-half shooting as the Cardinals went 3-for-12 from deep in the opening 20 minutes.
 
A pair of free throws from redshirt junior Taiwo Badmus (London, England) gave the Cavs their first double-digit lead of the game three minutes into the second half at 40-30. Badmus finished off a conventional 3-point play to give UVa-Wise its largest lead of the game at 13 (51-38) with 13:26 on the clock. Redshirt sophomore Dimitri Sousa (São Paulo, Brazil) nailed a 3-pointer just under a minute later to give the Cavs their second 13-point lead of the night at the 12:37 mark.
 
Wheeling Jesuit went on a 9-0 run over the next two and a half minutes to cut UVa-Wise's lead down to four at 54-50 with 10:10 to go. Another Sousa 3-pointer stretched the Cavs' advantage back out to seven before a Ritz layup with 5:42 remaining capped a 11-3 Cardinals' run, giving Wheeling Jesuit its first lead since the first half at 61-60. Seven-straight points from freshman point guard Michal Seals (Lancaster, Pa.) put UVa-Wise back up by four at 67-63 with just under four minutes remaining.
 
The Cardinals scored six unanswered points over the next two minutes to take a 69-67 lead with just under two minutes left in regulation. A Badmus free throw and then layup put the Cavs ahead 70-69 with 58 ticks to go before Wheeling Jesuit's Pat Moseh hit a jumper with 42 seconds left to give the lead back to the Cardinals at 71-70. Following an UVa-Wise timeout, Sousa hit a 3-pointer from the far right corner with 17 seconds remaining to give the Cavs a 73-71 advantage. Mosquera-Perea made a tremendous steal along the baseline and was quickly fouled by Wheeling Jesuit with just 5.1 seconds to go but went 1-of-2 at the free-throw line before Hilson's heroics.
 
In overtime, the Cardinals kept the Cavs scoreless for the first three minutes while going on a 7-0 run that was capped by another Hilson 3-pointer. Three-straight points from Badmus got UVa-Wise to within four at 83-79 with one minute left in overtime, but the Cavs could not capitalize after a Wheeling Jesuit offensive foul was called on the ensuing possession. The Cardinals made five free throws down the stretch to clinch the 88-81 victory.
 
All told, UVa-Wise shot 45.6 percent (26-of-57) for the game while Wheeling Jesuit went 31-of-69 (44.9 percent) from the floor, including 9-of-26 (34.6 percent) from distance. The Cavs went 18-of-24 (75 percent) from the foul line for the game and the Cardinals hit 17-of-24 (70.8 percent) free throws.
 
Sousa led all scorers with a game-high 27 points on 6-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc and collected a team-high seven rebounds. Badmus finished with 23 points, while Seals played the entire 45 minutes to score 16 points, grab five rebounds and dish out a game-high five assists. Mosquera-Perea played a career-high 23 minutes of the bench for UVa-Wise, earning a career-high five rebounds and contributing six points. Junior forward Corey Dick (Whitsett, N.C.) played a valuable eight minutes off the bench for the Cavs, scoring a season-high four points.
 
Both Ritz and Moseh notched double-doubles to lead five different Cardinals in double-figure scoring. Ritz finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Moseh posted 16 points and 12 boards. Preston Boswell and Dominique Tham led three Wheeling Jesuit players in double-figure scoring off the bench with 14 points each. Tham also collected nine rebounds for the Cardinals, six on the offensive end, as Hilson added 11 points.
 
The Cavs wrap up their three-game road trip Thursday with a trip to Concord University in Athens, West Virginia, for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
 
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