Storylines – vs. Shepherd University
Head Coach Justin Namolik's Rams visit Wise following a road Mountain East Conference victory over Concord University Thursday night, 90-74. Shepherd University sits at 8-5 overall and a 4-4 league record winning two of their first three games of 2019. The Rams have also posted conference wins this season against the University of Charleston, West Virginia Wesleyan, and Wheeling Jesuit. The Shepherd men are led in scoring by senior guard Derek McKnight who is averaging 18.2 points per game along with 4.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists per contest. Three other Rams are also averaging double-figures so far this season in junior guard Thomas Lang (17.8 ppg), senior forward Winston Burgess (16.8 ppg), and freshman guard Jon Preston (10.5 ppg). Burgess and Preston are the teams' top rebounders with Burgess posting 7.4 per game while Preston has registered 6.5 per game. Namolik's squad is averaging 81.4 ppg with a +3.2 scoring margin against opponents and shooting 45.6 percent (356-for-781) from the field. From three, the Rams are shooting 34.1 percent (109-for-320) while connecting on an impressive 237-for-308 (76.9 percent) from the line. Last season the Rams went 1-1 against the Cavs with a double-digit win at home before falling to UVa-Wise inside the Prior Center.
About UVa-Wise
UVa-Wise was stifled Thursday night by Fairmont State as the Fighting Falcons capitalized off of a sluggish start by the Cavaliers to earn a 106-80 win inside the Prior Center. The Cavs struggled to score for much of the first half while Fairmont State shot over 50 percent from the floor for the entire game. In the loss, four Cavalier men scored in double-figures led by junior guard
Michal Seals who posted 18 points, seven assists, and four rebounds. Blake Mellinger's squad has four players scoring in double-figures so far this season with Seals accounting for the team's top scorer averaging 20.1 ppg and sits atop the Mountain East Conference and national rankings with his 8.4 assists per game. Redshirt freshman
Briggs Parris follows with 14.6 ppg while junior guard
Eric Okenchi is averaging 13.2 ppg and freshman
Cameron Whiteside is posting 10.6 ppg. Okenchi has been a dominating force on defense leading the team with 7.9 boards per game while Parris continues to shine from beyond the arc as he ranks second in the league's three-point field goal percentage, shooting 49 percent (52-of-106) from downtown. Okenchi's 62 percent (54-for-87) shooting accounts for the highest field goal percentage on the team while Seals' 86 percent (43-for-50) shooting from the foul line leads the Cavs. Following Saturday's contest, UVa-Wise will go on a four-game road stretch starting with No. 11 West Liberty next Thursday.
