WISE – UVA Wise (1-0) picked up right where it left off last season, knocking down 14-of-28 threes en route to a 90-69 season-opening win over King University (0-1).
Last season, the Cavs led the SAC and ranked sixth nationally among NCAA Division II schools shooting 40.1 percent on three pointers. Saturday night against King, they shot 50 percent, including knocking down four of their first five threes to open the night.
It was sophomore combo guard Patrick Shelley, an All-SAC Freshman Team selection last year, who opened the scoring on the season with a triple.
Sophomore guard Calen Lightford, also an All-SAC Freshman Team selection, followed that up with a three of his own after Shelley made a block on the other end of the floor.
Before anyone could blink, the Cavs had sunk a quartet of three-pointers and were up 14-2 at the first media timeout. King hung around, but the Cavs never looked back after the hot start finishing with a 21-point victory.
Four different Cavaliers found double digits in scoring Saturday night, led by sophomore guard Zion Fruster who had 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including a perfect 4-for-4 night from downtown.
Zy'Ever Wingfield had an impressive debut with the Cavs after transferring from Le Moyne College (N.Y.), scoring 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting with two steals, one block, three assists and four rebounds.
Shelley had 14 points and a pair of ferocious dunks that ignited the crowd. He resumed his defensive production from last season with three steals on the night as well.
Lightford scored 15 points and dished out two assists. The 90 percent free throw shooter last season went 7-for-7 from the line on the night.
The Cavs hounded the Tornado on defense all night long, deflecting a number of passes in the full-court press. UVA Wise totaled 13 steals and five blocks contributing to 26 King turnovers.
The Cavs made the giveaways count, too, scoring 34 point off turnovers in the game.
Nearly everyone contributed in some capacity for head coach Blake Mellinger's squad. Nine different Cavaliers tallied points in the contest, and the bench lit up the scoreboard for 51 points.
Along with the knockdown shooting from deep, UVA Wise consistently got in the paint and to the rim, adding 30 paint points in the win.
Both teams will complete their only back-to-backs of the season as King finishes the SAC/CC Challenge Sunday afternoon against Carson-Newman at 2 p.m. The Eagles (1-0) downed the Lees-McRae Bobcats (0-1) 101-77 in the challenge's opening game Saturday night.
UVA Wise will tip off directly following the Carson-Newman and King contest, with a 4 p.m. start against Lees-McRae.
