Box Score SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Despite a career-high 33 points from freshman point guard Michal Seals (Lancaster, Pa.), the UVa-Wise men's basketball team was unable to pick up a Mountain East Conference road win in 93-86 loss at Notre Dame College Thursday night. In a high-scoring affair, the visiting Cavaliers (7-18, 5-14 MEC) and the homestanding Falcons (16-9, 10-9 MEC) each knocked down 14 3-pointers but Notre Dame College sustained over 50 percent shooting for the entirety of the game to claim the victory.
 
The Falcons size began to bother UVa-Wise as the Cavs were outrebounded by 10 – 41-31 – and 11-9 on the offensive glass, giving up 14 second-chance points. Notre Dame College scored 18 fast-break points and tallied 48 points in the second half behind 55.6 percent (20-of-36) shooting. UVa-Wise was held to 42.5 percent (17-of-40) second-half shooting after going 50 percent (15-of-30) from the field in the opening half.
 
The Cavs fell behind 8-2 early in the first half after four minutes of play before a layup by redshirt junior forward Taiwo Badmus (London, England) made it a one-point game at 19-18 at the 10:47 mark of the half. The Falcons' Drew Scarberry drained his fourth 3-pointer of the half to give Notre Dame College its largest lead of the first half at 27-20 with 8:53 to go before the break. However, UVa-Wise responded with a 10-0 run over the next two and a half minutes of play to take their first lead of the contest at 30-27, thanks in large part to treys from freshman guard Chance Sheffey (Staunton, Va.) and freshman forward Yesid Mosquera-Perea (Quibdó, Chocó, Colombia).
 
Nine consecutive Cavalier points by Seals gave UVa-Wise a four-point, 37-33 lead with a little over four minutes remaining in the half. Notre Dame College's Kyauta Taylor went on a 7-0 run by himself over a three-minute span to give the Falcons back the lead at 40-37. Redshirt sophomore forward Dimitri Sousa (São Paulo, Brazil) scored five points in the final minute of the half but Notre Dame College's Kobie Johnson connected on a 3-pointer with seven seconds to go to break a 42-42 tie.
 
Trailing by three at the break, the Cavs hit eight of their 14 first-half 3-point attempts (57.1 percent) but were outpaced by the Falcons' 54.5 percent (18-of-33) shooting in the first 20 minutes of play. Seals had 19 points in the opening half, while Notre Dame College's Scarberry went 4-for-6 from deep.
 
Badmus scored UVa-Wise's first eight points in the second half as the Cavs retook the lead and led 50-48 after two and a half minutes of play. A layup by Seals gave UVa-Wise its largest lead of the night at five (53-48) about three and a half minutes into the second half. The Cavs went up by five once more just moments later when Sousa knocked down a 3-pointer but UVa-Wise's offense would be slowed down over the next five minutes of play.
 
Two consecutive jumpers by the Falcons' Taylor capped a 13-4 Notre Dame College run, giving the home team a 64-60 advantage with 11:40 to go. Seals completed a conventional 3-point play at the 10:12 mark to tie up the game at 60-all, but the Cavs would trail for the remainder of the contest. The Falcons scored nine unanswered points to take a nine-point, 75-66 lead with about eight and a half minutes left.
 
A layup by Seals capped a 10-4 UVa-Wise run that got the Cavs within one possession at 79-76 with a little under five and a half minutes remaining. Over the next two minutes of play, the Falcons outscored UVa-Wise 8-0 and built their largest lead of the night at 11 (87-76). A pair of Cavalier turnovers and a missed 3-pointer hindered UVa-Wise's chances of a late comeback as Notre Dame College found the open man down the stretch to break the Cavs' press. A dunk by the Falcons' Johnson iced the game with just under 30 seconds to play, giving Notre Dame College a nine-point, 93-84 advantage.
 
UVa-Wise finished the game shooting 45.7 percent (32-of-70) from the field as the Falcons shot 55.1 percent (38-of-69) from the floor. The Cavs went 14-for-29 (48.3 percent) from deep while Notre Dame College made 42.4 percent (14-of-33) of its 3-point attempts. UVa-Wise scored 18 points off of 14 Falcons turnovers and made eight steals.
 
Seals' career-high 33 points on 13-for-23 shooting led all scorers as the freshman was 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. The point guard also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and dished out six assists. Badmus finished with 25 points and six boards, while Sousa added 20 points and five rebounds. Sheffey distributed a career-high six assists and scored five points for the Cavs.
 
Scarberry tallied a team-high 26 points for the Falcons and made eight of Notre Dame College's 14 treys. Both Will Vorhees and Ja'Sean Lewis posted double-doubles for the Falcons with Vorhees totaling 24 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. Lewis finished with 12 points, 12 boards and a game-high tying seven assists, in addition to making five of Notre Dame College's seven blocks. Taylor earned 24 points and Johnson also chipped in seven assists for the Falcons.
 
The Cavs continue their three-game road trip Saturday afternoon with a stop in Urbana, Ohio, to take on Urbana University at 4 p.m. Fans can listen to the men's and women's basketball doubleheader online here.
 
Visit uvawisecavs.com for all Cavalier men's basketball news, statistics, complete schedule and more.