WEST LIBERTY, W. Va. - - UVa-Wise battled a strong No. 9 West Liberty team Thursday night as the Cavs fell 108-93 on the road.
Six players scored in double-figures for the Cavs, led by redshirt freshman Briggs Parris who put up 23 points with six rebounds. Junior guard Michal Seals followed with 17 points, six rebounds, and seven assists while junior guard Chance Sheffey netted 14 points.
Junior forward Tajh Eason finished with 12 points and five boards while junior forward Eric Okenchi had 11 points and eight rebounds. Senior guard Rahji Langford ended the night with a season-high 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field.
UVa-Wise (5-9, 3-6 MEC) and West Liberty (12-2, 8-1 MEC) battled from the start with the Cavs leading the Hilltoppers 6-5 early. The Hilltoppers would regain the lead with just under 17 minutes to play in the first half, going up 19-13 on a three pointer by West Liberty with 12:42 to go.
Another three ball later in the game would give the Hiltoppers a double-digit lead, 24-13.
After trailing by as much as 22, Seals would hit a shot from downtown with 4:33 to go to cut the Hilltoppers advantage to 45-26.
West Liberty would hold on to its lead going into the half with the Hilltoppers ahead 57-36.
UVa-Wise shot 40 percent (14-for-35) from the field to start, connecting on just 3-of-12 (25 percent) from beyond the arc. The Cavs struggled from the foul line shooting just 33.3 percent (5-for-15) from the line.
Sheffey and Okenchi led UVa-Wise with nine points apiece while Okenchi added four rebounds.
The Hilltoppers were 20-for-35 (57.1 percent) from the floor and hit seven shots from downtown while going 62.5 percent (10-for-16) from the free throw line.
UVa-Wise would open the second half on a 5-0 run behind a three ball by Parris and layup by Sheffey as the Hilltoppers led 57-41 with just under 19 minutes to play. Another run by the Cavs would cut West Liberty's lead to 11 as UVa-Wise trailed 59-48 with 17:17 on the clock.
Eason would get a bucket with 15:26 left to put the Cavs down by just nine points, 64-55. A 14-0 run by the Hilltopers over the next three minutes would extend West Liberty's lead to 23 points for a 78-55 advantage with just over 12 minutes to go.
Down 18, Langford would connect on a shot to cut the margin as West Liberty continued to lead 89-73 with 6:25 left in the game. With three minutes left in the game, Seals would put in a layup as the Cavs trailed the Hilltoppers 101-85. UVa-Wise would end the game on a 4-0 run as West Liberty held on to earn a 108-93 victory.
The Cavs outscored the Hilltoppers 22-12 inside the paint while UVa-Wise was assisted with 18 points off the bench to West Liberty's 21 bench points.
UVa-Wise finished the night shooting 50 percent (35-for-70) from the floor but struggled from beyond the arc and free throw line shooting just 26.9 percent (7-for-26) from downtown and 53.3 percent (16-for-30) from the line. West Liberty came out on top in the rebounding battle with 51 boards to the Cavs 40.
Blake Mellinger's team will turnaround with another Mountain East Conference matchup on Saturday against Wheeling Jesuit University at 4 p.m.
