WISE - - Men's basketball secured a crucial 85-79 victory over West Virginia Wesleyan Wednesday night inside the Prior Center.

Redshirt freshman Briggs Parris had a game-high 22 points with four assists and knocked down six shots from downtown. Junior Eric Okenchi had 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field with seven rebounds while freshman Cameron Whiteside was 6-of-7 from the floor and finished with 15 points and six boards. Freshman Kaeleb Carter netted 14 points and added five rebounds in the win.

West Virginia Wesleyan (8-11, 5-8 MEC) held the lead to start but a three-pointer by Whiteside with 15:53 on the clock would put UVa-Wise (6-12, 4-9 MEC) ahead by one, 11-10. The Bobcats would regain the lead and go up by six points, 31-25, with just under eight minutes to play.

Freshman Jordan Twyman would sink in a shot from downtown to knot the game at 33-33 apiece with 5:57 left in the half. The Cavs would cap off a 15-0 run on a dunk by Okenchi with less than four minutes to go with UVa-Wise leading 42-33.

The Cavs would hold onto the lead going into the break, up 44-42 over the Bobcats at halftime. Both teams had 16 points inside the paint in the opening half while UVa-Wise shot 59.3 percent (16-for-27) from the field and 50 percent (8-for-16) from behind the arc.

Three players scored in double-figures for the Cavs in the first half led by Parris who had 12 while Whiteside posted 11 points and Okenchi had 10 points to start.

West Virginia Wesleyan would open the half draining a three-pointer to take an early 45-44 advantage. Senior guard Rahji Langford would respond at the other end of the court with a three ball to regain the lead. UVa-Wise would extend its advantage to 11 points, 56-45, following a quick 5-0 run by freshman forward Kaeleb Carter.

The Bobcats would tie the game again at the 10:38 mark on a three ball with the scoreboard reading 64-64. An 8-0 run later in the game would give West Virginia Wesleyan a nine point advantage, 75-66, with 6:41 on the clock.

A block by Carter would lead to the freshman knocking down a three-pointer with 5:36 left. Whitside would get a bucket with a little over four minutes to play as UVa-Wise trailed by two, 75-73. Whiteside would then tie the game on another bucket before Parris connected on a shot from downtown to give the Cavs a 78-76 advantage. A three by Parris and a jumper by Langford would put UVa-Wise ahead by four with under two minutes to go as Parris locked away an 85-79 win at the foul line.

The Cavs outscored the Bobcats in the paint in the second half 20-4 and had 11 points off of West Virginia Wesleyan's seven turnovers. UVa-Wise had another strong second half of shooting, going 15-for-24 (62.5 percent) from the field, 5-for-9 (55.6 percent) from behind the arc.

UVa-Wise posted 31 rebounds to the Bobcats 21 on the night while the Cavs shot 60.8 percent (31-for-51) from the field, 52 percent (13-for-25) from the three-point line, and connected on 10-of-11 shots (90.9 percent) from the charity stripe.

The Cavalier men had 36 points inside the paint to 20 for the Bobcats on the night as UVa-Wise also netted 23 points off of 12 West Virginia Wesleyan turnovers.

Blake Mellinger's team will return to action this weekend as they hit the road for another conference matchup at Glenville State. Tip is slated for 4 p.m.