YOUNG HARRIS, GA. — In a game of endless ebbs and flows, No. 18 Young Harris whipped up a convenient five-point run with 29 seconds to go to take a 72-67 win over UVA Wise on Saturday, Dec. 31.

After falling behind eight points in the opening, Cavalier Calen Lightford helped flipped the script — the freshman guard connected on two weighty three-pointers to keep Young Harris (11-0, 2-0 PBC) within reach. 

After a back-and-forth next ten minutes, another crucial downtown shot from hot-hand Lightford gave UVA Wise (7-5, 1-3 SAC) their first lead of the day at 20-18. Mountain Lions Nate Dunlop and Karl Chavis helped keep things interesting, but Bradley Dean scored the next eight Cavalier points and kept his squad within three going into the locker room.

Young Harris came back out hot after the break, going on a 10-0 run which began at the 18:50 mark. Despite the deficit, the Cavs still had fight left, crawling their way back within a point at the 12:43 mark after a Lightford jumper. After a missed shot from Young Harris' Christian Schach, Patrick Shelley connected the Dean for the go-ahead layup for a 48-47 UVA Wise lead. 

UVA Wise pushed their lead to 50-47 with Dean at the helm, but Young Harris found ways to respond. A three-point shot from Dunlop with less than five minutes to go began a 9-0 Mountain Lions spurt that the Cavs wouldn't be able to recover from. 

Dean scored 18 of his 26 points in the second half for the Cavs in the defeat. Lightford put up 16 points, matching his career-high while Lawson orchestrated a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds. 

Young Harris held the Cavaliers to 22-of-59 from the field and 10-of-29 from the arc, but the Mountain Lions didn't have a great outing either. Young Harris only hit 8-of-24 three-pointers and went 25-of-55 from the field. 

Up next, the Cavaliers face SAC opponent Lincoln Memorial on January 4 with a 7:30 PM tipoff in Wise.