ATHENS, W. Va. - - UVa-Wise put up a ferocious effort against Concord University Saturday afternoon as the Cavaliers were clipped by the Mountain Lions, 83-82, on the road.

Freshman forward Kaeleb Carter finished with a season and career-high 21 points, knocking down 6-of-8 from beyond the arc. Junior forward Eric Okenchi finished with 18 points while redshirt freshman guard Briggs Parris netted 16 points. Freshman guard Cameron Whiteside had 12 points and seven boards and senior guard Rahji Langford posted a career-high eight rebounds and seven assists.

Trailing by five to start, Whiteside would connect on a three to put the Cavs down 8-6 at the 17:18 mark. Carter and Okenchi would combine for a quick five points to knot the game at 11 apiece less than two minutes later.

The Mountain Lions would later go on a 5-0 run to hold a 25-16 advantage with just under nine minutes left in the half. A three ball by Carter followed by a layup by Whiteside with 5:34 on the clock would put UVa-Wise down by just five, 28-23.

Back-to-back shots from downtown by Concord's Jair Rodgers would extend the Mountain Lions leads to nine before taking their largest lead of the half on a pair of free throws by Concord, 36-25, with less than three minutes to go.

UVa-Wise would stay in it with a 7-2 run to end the half as the Cavs trailed Concord 38-32 at the break.

At the half, Carter led all scorers with 13 points in 14 minutes, connecting on 4-of-5 from downtown. Okenchi also scored in double-figures for the Cavs with 10 points in the first half. UVa-Wise shot just 39.4 percent (13-for-33) from the floor to start, 38.5 percent (5-for-13) from beyond the arc. The Cavs collected just 13 rebounds to Concord's 28 to start while UVa-Wise tallied just three turnovers to nine for the Mountain Lions.

UVa-Wise would get within three points, 43-40, at the 16:38 mark before a quick 4-0 run gave Concord a 47-40 advantage with a little over 16 minutes to play.

Back-to-back three's by sophomore forward Jordan Pointer and Parris tied the game at 50-50 with 13:41 on the clock. The two would then team up to take the lead as a steal by Parris converted into two points for Pointer with UVa-Wise ahead 52-50 with 12:32 to go.

Concord would shortly regain the lead before another three ball by freshman guard Jordan Twyman knotted the game for the fourth time at 55-55 with 10:43 left. With the Mountain Lions ahead by one, Carter would drain another three for a two-point advantage for the Cavs, 61-59, with 8:20 on the clock.

The Cavs would create their largest lead of the night on a pair of baskets by Parris and Whiteside as UVa-Wise led 65-61 at the 7:42 mark. Trailing by three, Concord's Tommy Bolte would tie the game on a shot from downtown with 5:12 to play. A steal and a dunk later by Bolte, the Mountain Lions would take back the lead 74-72 with under five minutes left in the game.

Concord would regain its advantage at the free throw line, pushing the margin to four points on a three-pointer with just under a minute to play as UVa-Wise called a timeout. The Cavs would come out of the timeout with Carter knocking down another three ball as Concord led by just one, 83-82. UVa-Wise would attempt to put up a last second shot but could not get the ball to fall as the Mountain Lions held on for an 83-82 win.

UVa-Wise had a much better second half of shooting, going 62.5 percent (20-for-32) from the floor, 53.8 percent (7-for-13) from downtown. However, the Cavs struggled at the line hitting just 3-of-8 (37.5 percent) in the second half.

The Cavs finished the night shooting 50.8 percent (33-for-65) from the field, 46.2 percent (12-for-26) from three-point range. Concord outrebounded the Cavs 44-28 while UVa-Wise had just six turnovers to 12 for the Mountain Lions. From the line, the Cavs went 4-for-10 (40 percent) and dished out 15 assists and posted seven steals as a team.

Blake Mellinger's team will return home to host West Virginia Wesleyan on Wednesday. Tip is slated for 7:30 p.m. inside the Prior Center.