Box Score URBANA, Ohio – UVa-Wise men's basketball shot 57 percent from the field but was plagued by turnovers in a 88-83 Mountain East Conference road loss at Urbana University Saturday evening. The Cavaliers (7-19, 5-15 MEC) went 28-for-49 from the field, including 10-for-18 (55.6 percent) from outside the arc, but committed 24 turnovers as the homestanding Blue Knights (11-15, 6-14 MEC) made 17 steals and came back in the final minutes of the contest to earn the win.
 
Urbana scored 29 points off of UVa-Wise's miscues and got 15 second-chance points off of 12 offensive boards. The Cavs owned a 39-33 advantage on the glass and held the Blue Knights to 45.3 percent (34-of-75) shooting for the game but could not come away with a win after squandering an 11-point lead in the second half.
 
UVa-Wise jumped out to an early 8-2 lead early after freshman point guard Michal Seals (Lancaster, Pa.) knocked down his first triple of the day three minutes into the game. A layup by Seals at the 12-minute mark of the half gave the Cavs their first double-digit lead of the game at 19-9. Another layup by Seals moments late gave UVa-Wise its largest lead of the contest at 13 (23-10) with just over 10 and a half minutes to go in the first half. Urbana quickly cut the Cavs' advantage down to two after going on a 12-3 run over the following three and a half minutes of play.
 
The Blue Knights' Jimmy Weinke drilled a 3-pointer with 4:35 left in the opening half to give Urbana its first lead of the game at 31-30. The trey capped a six-minute span in which the Blue Knights outscored UVa-Wise 21-7. Three made 3-pointers, two of which were by redshirt sophomore forward Dimitri Sousa (São Paulo, Brazil), in the final four minutes of the half helped the Cavs head into the break with a three-point, 39-36 advantage.
 
UVa-Wise shot 57 percent (16-of-26) in the opening 20 minutes of play and went 6-for-10 from downtown. Seals had 15 first-half points as Sousa added 12. Urbana was held to 44 percent (15-of-34) first-half shooting but made five of its 11 attempts from distance.
 
A 3-pointer from redshirt junior forward Taiwo Badmus (London, England) capped an 11-3 Cav run to open up the second half, giving UVa-Wise a nine-point lead at 50-41. The Cavs continued to lead by nine before a Badmus Layup gave UVa-Wise its first double-digit lead at 56-45 after five and a half minutes of second-half action.
 
The Cavs extended their lead to 11 twice more before the home began to chisel away at its deficit. Five quick points by the Blue Knights cut the margin to six at 61-55 with 11:20 remaining. UVa-Wise went on a 9-2 run over the following two minutes as Seals completed a conventional 3-point play to extend the Cavs' lead back out to 11 at 70-59.
 
Over the next 1:17 of play the Cavs committed three turnovers and were outscored 12-2, making it a one-point game at 72-71 with 8:20 to go. UVa-Wise continued to lead but by no more than four points for the following four minutes of action, before a baseline jumper from Urbana's Carlas Jackson put the Blue Knights ahead for the first time in the second half at 80-79 with 4:08 left.
 
There were three ties down the stretch as both teams played with intensity on each end of the floor. With both the Blue Knights and the Cavs in the double bonus, every foul led to free throws. A made foul shot by Badmus broke an 82-82 tie with just under three minutes to play, before Urbana retook the lead on two made free throws from DeQuan Abrom at the 2:31 mark. Two missed long balls by the Cavs and two steals by the Blue Knights held UVa-Wise scoreless for the following two minutes as a Abrom jumper with 21 seconds remaining put Urbana ahead by three at 86-83. The Cavs had a chance to tie up the score with under 20 seconds on the clock but Seals' deep, left-wing 3-pointer rattled out and UVa-Wise had to foul with 8.4 ticks to go. The Blue Knights' AJ Washington knocked down his second free throw to make it a two-possession game at 87-83 and the Cavs' inbound pass was intercepted to seal the contest. Following a foul, Urbana's Dalton Payton made one more foul shot to make the 88-83 score final.
 
UVa-Wise held the Blue Knights' Jahmere Howze, who leads Urbana with a 16.6 points per contest scoring average, to just three points in the game. The Cavs were outscored 40-6 in points off the bench.
 
For the second consecutive game, three different UVa-Wise players scored 20 points or more. Badmus led the trio with his 12th double-double of the season, scoring 29 points, 22 of which came in the second half, and grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds. Seals finished with 21 points and tied his career high in rebounding with nine. He also dished out a team-high four assists and went 8-for-13 from the field, including 3-for-4 from deep. Sousa collected 20 points and earned seven rebounds as junior guard Ricardo Hill Jr. (Cincinnati, Ohio) contributed seven points.
 
Four Urbana players scored in double figures led by 24 points from Abrom, 22 of those coming in the second half. Jackson posted 14 points off the bench, while Payton added 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Washington scored 10 points for the Blue Knights to go along with five boards.
 
The Cavs will have five days off from competition before wrapping up their three-game road trip Thursday, Feb. 23, at West Virginia State in Institute, West Virginia. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. and fans can listen to the men's and women's basketball doubleheader online here.
 
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