Box Score SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – After winning its previous two games, the UVa-Wise men's basketball team was unable to win its third straight as Shepherd University handed the Cavaliers (5-14, 3-10 MEC) a 81-66 Mountain East Conference road loss Thursday night in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Behind 58.6 percent (17-of-29) shooting, including 8-of-16 (50 percent) from deep, in the opening half, the Rams (12-7, 9-4) made baskets in key moments throughout the game and used a balanced scoring attack to defeat visiting UVa-Wise.
 
Shepherd held the Cavs to 44.4 percent (24-of-55) shooting, including 41.4 percent (12-of-29) in the first half, and scored 21 points off of 13 UVa-Wise turnovers. Holding redshirt junior forward Taiwo Badmus (London, England), who averages 22.2 points per game, to only eight points, the Rams got 34 points off the bench and made a total of 14 3-pointers in 31 attempts (45.2 percent).
 
The Cavs led for only one minute of play in the contest after freshman point guard Michal Seals (Lancaster, Pa.) hit a jumper to put UVa-Wise up 2-0 thirty seconds in. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Shepherd gave the home team a seven-point, 19-12 advantage seven and a half minutes into the game before Seals knocked down two 3-pointers in a row. Seals scored 13 of UVa-Wise's first 18 points.
 
The Rams went on a 17-4 run over a six minute span and took a commanding 16-point lead at 38-22 with five in a half minutes to go in the half after Steffen Davis nailed his fourth 3-pointer. The Cavs closed the first half on a 12-4 run that was capped by a tremendous alley-oop connection by Seals and Badmus, trimming down the deficit to eight at 42-34.
 
Uncharacteristically to play as of late, UVa-Wise went 4-of-15 (26.7 percent) from long distance in the opening half. Redshirt sophomore forward Dimitri Sousa (São Paulo, Brazil) tallied 10 first-half points in addition to Seals' 13. Badmus was held to just one first-half field goal but had five rebounds. Shepherd's Davis had 14 points off the bench at the half as the Rams scored 15 points off of seven Cav turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Shepherd opened up the second half on an 11-3 run to extend its lead back out to 16 at 53-37 after four and a half minutes of play. UVa-Wise responded with a 12-3 run of its own over the next five minutes, cutting the Rams' lead to seven after a layup by freshman forward Yesid Mosquera-Perea (Quibdó, Chocó, Colombia). With 10 and a half minutes remaining, it would be as close as the Cavs would get for the remainder of the game. Shepherd outscored UVa-Wise 12-4 over the next two minutes to retake a double-digit lead at 68-53 with 8:42 to go.
 
The Rams' Winston Burgess knocked down a free throw to give the home team its largest lead of the night at 17 (81-64) with 1:10 left. Shepherd owned a 36-33 advantage on the boards and scored 20 second-chance points off of 12 offensive rebounds.
 
Seals tied his career high with 24 points and dished out a team-high four assists, while Sousa finished with 15 points. Mosquera-Perea also tied a career high with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting off the bench as Badmus collected a team-high nine rebounds.
 
The Rams saw five different players score in double figures led by Davis with 24 points on 6-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc. Skyler Roman scored 17 points for Shepherd after going 5-of-9 from deep, while Burgess finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. The Rams' AJ Carr totaled 11 points and five assists as Gavin McTavish posted 10 points. Shepherd also got a game-high 10 rebounds and six assists from Naim Muhammad.
 
The Cavs continue their three-game road trip Saturday afternoon with a stop at second-ranked Fairmont State University for a 4 p.m. tip. Live play-by-play of Saturday's game can be heard on WDIC 92.1 FM – The Wolf, or online at wdicradio.com.
 
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