WISE - - Men's basketball routed Berea College (Ky.) Tuesday afternoon, 81-48. The David J. Prior Center welcomed approximately 2,500 kids from Wise County and the City of Norton as the fans cheered the team to a dominating win.

Freshman Cameron Whiteside led all scorers with 17 points, knocking down four from behind the arc. Redshirt freshman Briggs Parris had 14 points followed by junior Eric Okenchi who had 13 points and six rebounds. Freshman Kaeleb Carter also scored in double figures for UVa-Wise (7-13) with 12 points while sophomore Jordan Pointer netted 10 points and had nine boards. Senior Rahji Langford finished with a career-high 11 rebounds and added six points and six assists in the win.

Off to a slow start offensively for UVa-Wise, back-to-back three-pointers by Parris would extend the Cavs advantage to double-digits, 16-6, with 12:27 on the clock. Neither team would score for over two minutes before a 7-0 run by the Mountaineers (11-11) put Berea down just three, 16-10, with 9:11 left in the first half.

Carter's three with 4:37 to go would push the Cavs advantage back to ten points, 23-13. UVa-Wise would hold onto the lead for the remainder of the half with the Cavs ahead 32-21 at halftime.

Each team finished with 12 points inside the paint to start with UVa-Wise posting eight points on fast breaks while Berea notched six points from the bench. The Cavs shot just 31.4 percent (11-for-35) from the field and were 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) from three-point range. Parris ended the first half in double figures with 11 points on three three-pointers and a pair of shots from the foul line.

The Cavs offense would begin to click as UVa-Wise opened the second half on an 18-3 run to go ahead by 26 points on a dunk by Carter with 15:29 on the clock. Berea would cut the deficit to under 20 points on a three by the Mountaineers, 57-39, at the 8:47 mark.

A shot by Carter less than a minute later would begin an 11-0 run for UVa-Wise as the Cavs continued to lead 68-39 with 6:36 to go. Freshman Jordan Twyman would cap off the scoring with a jumper with a little over 30 seconds to play as the Cavalier men worked their way to a dominating 81-48 win over the Mountaineers.

UVa-Wise outscored Berea in the paint 24-12 with the Cavs recording 19 points on fast breaks in the second half. The Cavs improved from the field, shooting 52.5 percent (21-for-40) from the floor and 6-for-15 (40 percent) from behind the arc. UVa-Wise went to the charity stripe just three times in the closing half, only connecting on one shot from the foul line.

The Cavs finished the game shooting 42.7 percent (32-for-75) from the floor, going 11-for-29 (37.9 percent) from the downtown. From the free throw line the Cavs hit 6-of-9 (66.7 percent) while the Mountaineers were 10-for-16 (62.5 percent) from the foul line.

UVa-Wise tallied 36 points inside the paint to 24 points for Berea. The Cavs also posted 27 fast break points to just five for the Mountaineers. On the boards, UVa-Wise dominated with 54 rebounds to 34 for Berea while the Cavs registered 11 steals to just two for the Mountaineers.

Blake Mellinger's team will return to action on Thursday against No. 8 West Liberty. Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. inside the Prior Center.