Box Score WISE, Va. – A step back jumper from the left baseline by Urbana University's Carlas Jackson with 3.9 second remaining gave the Blue Knights a 67-65 Mountain East Conference win over UVa-Wise men's basketball Sunday evening in the David J. Prior Convocation Center. In a game that saw seven different lead changes and 11 ties, the Cavaliers' late comeback bid fell short as Jackson's shot found the bottom of the net.
 
UVa-Wise (3-10, 1-6 MEC) could not find its offensive rhythm in the low-scoring affair as Urbana (7-6, 2-5 MEC) shot 56.7 percent (17-of-30) from the field in the second half to earn the win. Shooting 34.5 percent (20-of-58) for the game, the Cavs were outscored 41-37 in the second half after going 9-for-29 (31 percent) in the opening half.
 
Freshman point guard Michal Seals (Lancaster, Pa.) gave UVa-Wise its first points of the game and an early 3-0 lead when he knocked in a 3-pointer nearly a minute into the contest. Over the next four and a half minutes Urbana went on 14-2 run to take a nine-point lead at 14-5, their largest of the game.
 
A 3-pointer by freshman forward Tajh Eason (Newport News, Va.) with 9:16 to go in the half capped a 12-1 Cavalier run and gave the lead back to UVa-Wise at 17-15. The two teams remained within a possession of each other for the remainder of the half with the Cavs going on a 5-0 run right before the break. A floater in the lane by Seals with five seconds to go in the half gave UVa-Wise a two-point, 28-26 advantage heading into the locker room.
 
The Cavs went 3-of-16 (18.8 percent) from beyond the arc in the first half and were 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) from the foul line. Freshman forward Yesid Mosquera-Perea (Quibdó, Chocó, Colombia) had nine first-half points to pace UVa-Wise as Seals and redshirt junior forward Taiwo Badmus (London, England) each had six rebounds. Urbana shot 38.5 percent (10-of-26) in the opening half but was 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) from distance.
 
A four-point spurt by Badmus to open up the second half gave the Cavs their largest lead of the day at 32-26 only a minute and 15 seconds in. The lead was quickly erased as a 9-2 Blue Knight run over the next two and a half minutes of play ensued, putting the visitors up by three. Neither team could pull away from each other until a 3-pointer by redshirt sophomore Dimitri Sousa (São Paulo, Brazil) gave UVa-Wise a four-point, 46-42 lead with 11:30 remaining.
 
The Blue Knights would then outscore the Cavs 16-9 over the next six and a half minutes, owning a three-point advantage at 58-55 with five minutes left to play. Down by three following a Badmus free throw with 2:21 to go, UVa-Wise needed a stop. However, the Cavs couldn't get one as Urbana's Jahmere Howze made a layup after a Blue Knight offensive rebound.
 
Trailing by five at 63-58 with just over a minute to play, Sousa found junior guard Ricardo Hill Jr. (Cincinnati, Ohio) for a layup, cutting the deficit to three with 1:08 remaining. A tough fadeaway jumper by Urbana's Ethan Snapp put the Blue Knights back up by five with 44 seconds on the clock. Down 65-60, Badmus fought for an offensive rebound and made a put back layup with 28 seconds to go.
 
Urbana's inbound pass went to Howze at midcourt but he traveled with the ball, giving UVa-Wise a shot to tie the score with 26 seconds left. Seals found junior guard DeMarcus Edwards (Washington, D.C.) in the far left corner, who drained the 3-pointer to tie the game at 65-65 with 17 ticks on the clock.
 
The Blue Knights quickly got the ball down the court and Jackson hit the game winner with 3.9 seconds remaining. Following a UVa-Wise timeout, Seals received the inbound pass and raced up the floor, but his last-second shot off the glass at the buzzer fell off the front of the iron.
 
Despite getting 19 points from bench contribution and winning the rebound margin by four, UVa-Wise was only able to collect seven second-chance points off of 16 offensive boards. The Cavs were outscored 30-18 in points in the paint and finished the game 16-of-25 (64 percent) from the charity stripe.
 
Sousa and Seals each tallied 14 points for the Cavs as Seals dished out a game-high six assists and tied his career high with seven rebounds. Sousa handed out a season-high four assists, while Badmus posted his fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 boards. Mosquera-Perea finished with a career-high 11 points and three rebounds in 18 minutes of action off the bench.
 
Howze led the Blue Knights with a game-high 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Snapp and Jackson each scored 10. Urbana got nine points and eight rebounds from Dalton Payton as Demetrius Carr had eight points and Snapp earned a team-high five assists.
 
The Cavs wrap up their four-game homestand to start the new year Tuesday night with a 7:30 p.m. matchup against Notre Dame College.
 
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