WISE – Men's basketball dropped its first South Atlantic Conference matchup Tuesday evening to Mars Hill, 92-87, inside the David J. Prior Convocation Center. Senior Chance Sheffey recorded a career-high 25 points in the loss.

UVA Wise (3-3, 0-1 SAC) claimed the lead early, up 14-9 over the Lions on a bucket by freshman Izeah Parker at the 14:17 mark. Mars Hill (3-4, 1-0 SAC) managed to cut the deficit to just one point with a little over 11 minutes to play, but the Cavaliers would stay with the advantage taking their largest lead of the half, 23-16, with 8:50 on the clock. The Lions took a two-point lead late in the half, but a last second shot by Parker tied the contest, 37-37, going into halftime.

The Cavaliers registered 20 points in the paint in the opening half with 15 points from the bench. Sheffey recorded a team-high 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field with Greene tallying seven points and three steals.

UVA Wise shot 42.9 percent (15-for-35) from the field compared to 44.4 percent (16-for-36) for the Lions. The Cavs connected on just two shots from downtown (2-for-11) while Mars Hill shot 40 percent (4-for-10) from behind the arc.

Mars Hill took the lead to start the second half, 39-37, but Sheffey's jumper in the paint tied the contest soon after. The Lions regained the advantage with a 7-0 run to put Mars Hill ahead 48-41 with under 17 minutes to play. The Lions took the first double-digit lead of the night with 14:18 on the clock, up 56-45 over the Cavs.

Mars Hill gained its largest lead of the night with under 10 minutes to go, 69-52. UVA Wise continued to battle as sophomore Kaeleb Carter's triple with 7:19 to play put the Cavs down by nine points, 73-64. Freshman Drew Greene scored five straight points for UVA Wise as the Cavs trailed by four, 75-71. A Sheffey three with a little over four minutes on the clock followed by a made shot at the charity stripe for Carter cut the Lions advantage to two points, 77-75. Mars Hill maintained the lead, gaining another double-digit advantage with less than a minute left in the game, as the Lions outlasted the Cavs in a 92-87 win.

Sheffey put up another 14 points in the second half to record his career-high 25 points. Carter finished with 10 points in the closing half on 2-of-4 shooting from the field, 4-for-6 from the free throw line. Green and sophomore Cameron Whiteside each registered nine points in the second half and combined for a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe.

Greene netted a season-high 16 points in the loss, going 4-for-7 from the field and notching a perfect night at the foul line as he knocked down a season-high seven free throws. Carter netted 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting while Whiteside added 13 points and six rebounds. Senior Eric Okenchi posted a team-high eight boards and added 11 points and three assists on the night.

Head coach Blake Mellinger's team will return to SAC action Saturday as the Cavs take on Anderson at 4 p.m. inside the David J. Prior Convocation Center.