Storylines – vs. Shepherd University
Shepherd University will attempt to complete a season-sweep of UVa-Wise after defeating the Cavaliers on the Rams home court, 85-71. Shepherd shot an impressive 60.4 percent (32-for-53) against UVa-Wise led by senior forward AJ Carr who finished with a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds. The Rams visit Wise following a 76-70 loss to Concord University on the road Thursday night. Currently the Rams sit at fourth place in the Mountain East Conference standings with a 10-7 record in league play, 14-9 overall. Justin Namolik's squad has outscored opponents by a +3.8 scoring margin so far this season, averaging 80.3 points per game and shooting 48 percent from the field. The Rams are averaging 34.8 rebounds and 15.3 assists while committing 10.7 turnovers per contest. Carr leads Shepherd in scoring and rebounding, posting 16.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Thomas Lang is the Rams assists and steals leader recording four assists and 1.5 steals per game. Shepherd will head home following the two-game road trip to host West Virginia State and Charleston next week.
About UVa-Wise
Earning two huge upset wins over Wheeling Jesuit on the road and Fairmont State at home, Blake Mellinger's squad will look to keep the momentum going into Saturday afternoon's matchup against Shepherd University. The Cavaliers struggled from the floor in their last meeting with the Rams, shooting just 39.7 percent from the field in the road loss. UVa-Wise was also without leading scorer and rebounder in redshirt senior Taiwo Badmus against the Rams as the team was led in scoring by sophomore guard Michal Seals and sophomore forward Yesid Mosquera-Perea who both had 17 points for the Cavs. Badmus had a big game this past Thursday against Fairmont as he started the night being awarded with a basketball prior to the contest in recognition of scoring his 1,000th career point against Glenville State. The 6-foot-7 forward went on to put up a season-high 38 points against his former team alongside 13 rebounds. Seals followed with a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds in the win while Mosquera-Perea had 20 points on the night. The Cavs will host Urbana and Notre Dame next week to close out the team's four-game home stand.
