HICKORY, N.C. – Men's basketball dropped its South Atlantic Conference road test at Lenoir-Rhyne University 80-68 Wednesday night inside Shuford Memorial Gymnasium. Sophomore Cameron Whiteside notched his fifth double-double of the season and 14th 20+ point performance as he netted a game-high 26 points alongside 13 rebounds.
Whiteside shot 8-for-13 from the field on the night, knocking down 4-of-6 from behind the arc and went a perfect 6-for-6 at the charity stripe.
Lenoir-Rhyne (13-11, 9-10 SAC) gained the lead early, holding a 12-4 advantage with 14:49 on the clock in the first half. After trailing by double-digits, UVA Wise (5-20, 118 SAC) managed to cut the Bears lead to six points on a pair of free throws by senior Chance Sheffey, 22-16, with 8:33 to go in the frame.
A Whiteside three-pointer with less than five minutes to play in the opening half put the Cavaliers down by just five points, 29-24. Lenoir-Rhyne stayed in front for the remainder of the first as the Bears took a 44-35 advantage into halftime.
UVA Wise shot 40 percent (12-for-30) from the field and 87.5 percent (7-for-8) from the foul line with Whiteside hitting all four of the Cavs three-pointers as the team shot 40 percent (4-for-10) from downtown.
Whiteside caught fire early with a game-high 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, 4-for-5 from three, and nine rebounds in the first half. Redshirt sophomore Briggs Parris added seven points while Sheffey and fellow senior Eric Okenchi each had five points to start.
The Bears utilized a 6-0 run to open the second half, up 50-37 with 16:36 left in the game. Trying to get back within a single-digit deficit, redshirt junior Yesid Mosquera-Perea knocked down a shot from behind the arc as UVA Wise trailed by 10 points, 50-40.
Back-to-back three-pointers later in the game gave Lenoir-Rhyne its largest lead of the contest, 75-54, with 6:34 to go. The Bears maintained the advantage as the team went on to secure an 80-68 victory.
Okenchi netted double-figures in the closing half as he led UVA Wise with 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor, 4-for-5 from the foul line. Whiteside followed with eight points while he and Sheffey each grabbed four boards in the second frame.
The Cavs went cold from the floor to close out the contest, shooting just 31.3 percent (10-for-32) from the field, and connecting on 1-of-12 shots from behind the arc. The team had another solid performance at the line as the Cavs drained 12-of-13 free throws.
On the night, Okenchi was the only other Cavalier to finish in double-figures as he posted 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting and added five rebounds. Sheffey and Parris each tallied nine points while Sheffey recorded six rebounds.
UVA Wise outrebounded Lenoir-Rhyne 44-36 as the Bears narrowly outscored the Cavs in the paint 26-24. UVA Wise finished the game shooting 35.5 percent (22-for-62) from the field and 90.5 percent (19-for-21) from the charity stripe.
Head coach Blake Mellinger's team will return to action Saturday afternoon as the program celebrates Senior Day inside the David J. Prior Convocation Center. Tip-off between UVA Wise and Wingate University is slated for 4 p.m.
