WISE – UVA Wise men's basketball picked up its second home win of the season in a 104-85 rout of Mars Hill Monday night inside the David J. Prior Convocation Center.
Junior Cameron Whiteside earned his second straight double-double with a game-high 29 points on 8-of-12 shooting and added 10 rebounds. Whiteside finished the night perfect at the foul line, 13-for-13, and added four assists and four steals.
Three more players scored in double-figures as redshirt junior Briggs Parris scored 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Junior Kaeleb Carter netted 16 points while sophomore Drew Greene added a season-high 13 points. Sophomore forward Izeah Parker finished with nine points as he went a perfect 4-for-4 from the field.
UVA Wise (3-11, 3-11 SAC) led most of the game as the Cavaliers held an early 15-6 lead following a 9-0 run with 14:27 on the clock. Mars Hill (1-9, 1-9 SAC) cut into the Cavs advantage, but UVA Wise later took its first double-digit advantage on a pair of free throws by Whiteside with a little under 14 minutes to play.
The Cavs gained their largest lead of the half with 8:33 to play as the Lions trailed 27-13. Mars Hill used an 11-2 spurt to narrow the gap as UVA Wise continued to lead 29-24 with 6:12 to go in the half.
Another run for the Cavs extended their lead back to double-digits, up 44-32, as freshman Ben Bryson knocked down a shot at the stripe to complete the three-point play. Mars Hill's Austin Gilyard connected on back-to-back three's to pull the Lions within eight with a little under two minutes to go in the frame. Mars Hill's two shots at the line to close out the half put the Lions back within six, trailing 48-42 at the break.
Mars Hill won the first half rebounding battle 19-16 while connecting on eight shots from downtown in the frame. UVA Wise shot 50 percent from the field and made several trips to the charity stripe to open the game, going 16-for-19 at the line. Redshirt junior Briggs Parris led the Cavs in the opening frame with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
The Lions came out hot in the second half with a three by Isayah Johnson to open the scoring. Mars Hill continued to claw at the Cavs lead as back-to-back three-point shots from the Lions' Javonte Cooke put Mars Hill in front 61-60 with under 16 minutes to go.
The two teams went back-and-forth before UVA Wise pulled away by eight, 79-71, midway through the closing half. The Cavs widened the margin back to double-digits, 87-75, with 7:44 to play.
Mars Hill managed to climb back to a four-point deficit with under six minutes on the clock as the Lions scored eight unanswered points.
Sophomore Izeah Parker's dunk with 1:56 to play cracked the century-mark for the Cavs as UVA Wise pulled ahead by 16 points late. The Cavs held on to gain their second consecutive home win, 104-85, over Mars Hill.
UVA Wise outscored Mars Hill in the paint 30-8 in the closing frame while adding 17 points off of turnovers. The Cavs shot an impressive 58.1 percent from the floor while holding Mars Hill to shooting 39.9 percent from the field. Whiteside scored 19 points in the half on 6-of-7 shooting and tallied six boards.
The Lions were aided by 15 three-pointers and shot 41.9 percent from the field on the night. Mars Hill recorded 17 turnovers and 38 rebounds in the loss while the Lions were led in scoring by Austin Gilyard's 25-point outing.
UVA Wise finished the night shooting 54.2 percent from the floor and drained 35-of-40 at the charity stripe. The Cavs tallied nine steals and 26 assists in the win.
Head coach Blake Mellinger's squad is back inside the David J. Prior Convocation Center Wednesday night to take on Carson-Newman University. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m.
