WISE - - Dominating on both ends of the court, UVa-Wise breezed by Berea College, 103-70, to get the team's first home win of its 2017-18 campaign. The Cavaliers (3-3, 2-0 MEC) shot 38-for-78 (48.7 percent) from the field and forced 20 turnovers by Berea (2-1) en route to their third victory of the season.
Berea's sophomore guard Dakota Mays hit a three early to put the Mountaineers on the scoreboard first. With 18:40 on the clock, a foul by the Mountaineers placed senior forward Taiwo Badmus at the line to get the Cavaliers first two points of the game.
A three-pointer by junior guard Rahji Langford's at the 14:45 mark would give UVa-Wise its first lead of the game, 10-7, and the Cavaliers would not trail again. UVa-Wise would go on a 16-0 run to take a 34-14 advantage over the Mountaineers with 7:17 left to go in the first half.
Junior forward Leandro Amador put two more on the board for the Cavaliers at the 4:30 mark to take their largest lead of the first half, going up 21 points over the Mountaineers, 43-22. An easy lay-in by sophomore forward Yesid Mosquera-Perea took the Cavs into halftime, leading 46-29 over Berea.
UVa-Wise went 17-for-37 (45.9 percent) from the field with 18 points inside the paint to just six points from Berea. The Cavaliers had help with 17 points coming off the bench while Badmus led all scorers with 12 points off of 4-for-8 shooting and six boards. The Cavs only turned the ball over four times and recorded 25 rebounds heading into the half.
A Badmus three concluded a 10-0 run by the Cavaliers coming out of halftime. UVa-Wise continued to outplay the Mountaineers throughout the second half as the Cavs took their largest lead of the night, 73-37, behind a three by senior guard DeMarcus Edward at the 13:29 mark. Another three-pointer by Edwards would put the Cavs at the 100 point mark with just 59 seconds left to go.
With 41 seconds on the clock, a good defensive effort by guard Michael Osborne was highlighted by a two-handed dunk by the redshirt-freshman to put the Cavs up 102-69. Both the Cavs and Mountaineers would make one free-throw a piece to end the game with UVa-Wise earning the 103-70 victory.
Four Cavs saw career-highs in tonight's matchup including sophomore guard Michal Seals who registered a career-high 12 assists. Hitting 5-of-12 from the beyond the arc, Edwards posted a career-high 15 points while Osborne's 3-of-6 shooting gave him a career-high seven points. Junior guard Rahji Langford went 4-of-5 from the floor to earn his career-high 14 points and seven rebounds.
Men's basketball will return to action as they travel to Harrogate, Tenn. to take on No. 4 Lincoln Memorial University on Nov. 25. Tip-off scheduled for 4 p.m.
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