Box Score INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The UVa-Wise men's basketball team earned a 91-75 win at West Virginia State Thursday night in Institute, West Virginia, in a key Mountain East Conference road matchup. The Cavaliers (8-19, 6-15 MEC) outscored the host Yellow Jackets (6-21, 3-18 MEC) 48-27 in the second half and held West Virginia State to 25 percent (7-of-28) shooting in the final 20 minutes of play to earn the win.
 
UVa-Wise shot 46.8 percent (29-of-62) from the field and connected on 11 3-pointers in the game, while outrebounding the Yellow Jackets 44-33 and shooting 84.6 percent (22-of-26) from the free-throw line.
 
The Cavs jumped out to a seven-point, 18-11 lead at the first media timeout after a pair of triples from both freshman point guard Michal Seals (Lancaster, Pa.) and redshirt junior forward Dimitri Sousa (São Paulo, Brazil). UVa-Wise outscored West Virginia State 12-7 over the next six minutes of play and forced a Yellow Jacket timeout with 9:47 remaining in the half after a layup by Seals gave the Cavs a 12-point lead at 30-18.
 
West Virginia State responded with a 10-0 run and held UVa-Wise scoreless for an entire five minutes, cutting the Cavs' lead down to two at 30-28. Following the final media timeout of the opening half, junior guard DeMarcus Edwards (Washington, D.C.) knocked down two 3-pointers to extend UVa-Wise's advantage back out to eight with just over four minutes to go. The Yellow Jackets went on another run, this time 12-0 after three treys and a conventional 3-point play, to take their first lead of the game at 40-36 with about two and a half minutes remaining in the half.
 
Another pair of triples by West Virginia State before the half gave the home team a five-point, 48-43 lead heading into the break. The Yellow Jackets shot 50 percent (17-of-34) in the first half and went 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from beyond the arc, while holding the Cavs to 43.2 percent (16-of-37) first-half shooting. UVa-Wise did knock down nine treys as Seals led with 11 first-half points and six assists.
 
The Cavs went on a 14-6 run to start the second half and led 57-54 at the first media timeout after just over five minutes of play. A pair of made foul shots from redshirt junior Taiwo Badmus (London, England) with just under 14 minutes to go gave UVa-Wise its first double-digit lead of the second half at 65-55. The Cavs outscored the home team 30-11 over the first 10 minutes of the second half and built a 14-point advantage at 73-59 after an offensive rebound and tip-in from freshman forward Yesid Mosquera-Perea (Quibdó, Chocó, Colombia).
 
Another offensive rebound and tip-in, this time from freshman guard Tajh Eason (Newport News, Va.), gave UVa-Wise its largest lead of the night at 81-62 with just over seven minutes remaining in the game. West Virginia State went on an 8-3 run over the next two minutes of play and trimmed the Cavs' lead down to 14 with just over five minutes to go, but the Yellow Jackets would not be able to get any closer after cutting down the deficit to 14 once more under the three-minute mark. Freshman guard Chance Sheffey (Staunton, Va.) hit a pair of foul shots in the final two minutes to secure the 16-point victory for UVa-Wise.
 
The Cavs shot 52 percent (13-of-25) from the field in the second half and outscored West Virginia State 30-14 in bench points. UVa-Wise also outscored the Yellow Jackets 32-24 in points in the paint.
 
Seals finished with a game-high 27 points, tied his career high rebounds (9) and made a career-high five steals, while distributing a team-high seven assists. Badmus scored 17 points as Mosquera-Perea had a career night with a career-high 15 points and nine rebounds. Sousa added 10 points and Eason earned nine points and tied his career high in rebounds with seven.
 
Terrance Jenkins led three different Yellow Jackets in double-figure scoring with 18 points and a game-high 13 boards. Ernest Jenkins and Tyrie Elliott each totaled 15 points for West Virginia State, while Ernest Jenkins dished out a game-high eight assists. The Yellow Jackets' Cody Morris fouled out but finished with nine points and five rebounds.
 
The Cavs return to game action Saturday for a pivotal matchup against Concord University inside the David J. Prior Convocation Center. The regular season and home finale will tip off at 4 p.m. or approximately 20 minutes after the women's game. The contest will determine if the Cavs make it into next week's MEC Tournament as UVa-Wise has to defeat Concord to make the 10-team tournament field.
 
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