WISE - - UVa-Wise battled but fell to the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters Saturday afternoon, 87-77. The Cavaliers drop to 3-3 on the season with the loss while the Railsplitters improve to a 3-2 overall record.
Junior guard Michal Seals led all scorers with 21 points and added six rebounds and seven assists. Junior forward Eric Okenchi had a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds while freshman guard Briggs Parris had 16 points, going 6-for-8 from the field. Freshman guard Cameron Whiteside put up 11 points and added six rebounds.
Lincoln Memorial would go ahead 5-2 to start the game before a quick 5-0 run by the Cavaliers would give UVa-Wise a 7-5 lead with a little under 17 minutes to play. The two teams would knot the game before the Cavs regained the lead and held the advantage with a layup by Seals pushing UVa-Wise ahead 14-11 over the Railsplitters with 12:08 to go in the first. Lincoln Memorial would go ahead by two on a shot by the Railsplitters' Anthony Brown, but a three-pointer by Parris would give the Cavs a one-point advantage, 19-18, with 8:13 left. With UVa-Wise down by three, Seals would knock down his first three of the game with the scoreboard reading 28-28 at the 4:45 mark. Back-to-back three-pointers by the Railsplitters' Alex Dahling would put Lincoln Memorial ahead by four points, 37-32, with under a minute to play. Junior forward Tajh Eason would dish the ball to Whiteside for a quick two points before the end of the half as the Railsplitters led the Cavs, 37-34.
Parris had nine points on three shots from downtown with two assists in the opening half. Seals followed with seven points, four rebounds, and three assists. Junior forward Eric Okenchi and sophomore forward Jordan Pointer each had six points to start while Okenchi added seven rebounds.
With the Cavs trailing to start the second half, a pair of jumpers by Parris would cut the deficit to two points, 42-40, with 17:55 on the clock. The Railsplitters would score seven unanswered points to extend their lead to 49-40 as Lincoln Memorial's Cameron Henry hit two shots from the charity stripe with 15:29 to go. A three by Seals would get the Cavs within four points with a little over 14 minutes on the clock but a 7-0 run by the Railsplitters would push the margin to 11 points on a dunk by Lincoln Memorial's Cornelius Taylor. UVa-Wise would stay in the game going on an 8-0 run to put the Cavs down by three with just under 10 minutes to go. Lincoln Memorial would gain a 13 point advantage late in the half, going ahead 70-57 at the 6:55 mark. A quick six points by Seals would put the Cavs within seven points, but Lincoln Memorial would pull ahead by double-digits, taking their largest lead of the game, 85-68, with 2:25 left. The Railpslitters would go on to take the game in a 10-point 87-77 victory over the Cavs.
Lincoln Memorial and UVa-Wise both had 42 points inside the point while the Cavs capitalized off of the Railsplitters turnovers with 21 points. Lincoln Memorial had 38 fast break points in the game to the Cavs 19. The Railsplitters finished the day shooting 39.7 percent (29-for-73) from the floor while UVa-Wise went 38 percent (30-for-79) from the field.
 Blake Mellinger's squad will return to action on Wednesday as they jump back into conference play with a matchup against West Virginia State University. Tip is slated for 7:30 p.m. inside the David J. Prior Convocation Center.
