WISE – With 14:48 to go and UVA Wise (5-4, 1-2 SAC) up 52-43 over Newberry (1-5, 0-2 SAC), freshman guard Carmelo Pacheco went down with an apparent ankle injury.
The first-year player had just set a new career high for himself with 21 points on 5-for-7 shooting from downtown and had just given the Cavs their most recent bucket to give them a 9-point lead.
The Cavs, who trailed by two points at halftime, had just gained a ton of momentum on the back of Pacheco but were now forced to watch that momentum limp off the floor and to the sideline.
Newberry had its best chance of the game to get back in it. Zion Fruster had other plans.
The sophomore guard exploded for 13 of the next 21 UVA Wise points, which included a pair of ferocious fast break dunks.
Fruster finished the game with a career-high 24 points and his defense wasn't too shabby either as he ended the night with a career-best seven steals.
As a team, UVA Wise racked up a season-best 15 steals against the Wolves, leading to a 79-69 win for the Cavs' first conference win of the season. 15 steals is tied for the second most in a game in program history for UVA Wise and is the most in a game since the program record of 16 steals was set back in 2017 against Notre Dame College.
Newberry gave the Cavaliers fits on defense in the first half. Head coach Jason Taylor's squad alternated between an aggressive 2-3 zone and man-to-man coverage that kept the Cavs guessing.
The zone forced UVA Wise to take 23 of its 30 shots from outside the arc in the first half. Making seven of those threes, UVA Wise found itself down 40-38 at the break.
Newberry was exceptional on offense in the first 20 minutes. The Wolves entered Saturday's showdown shooting 37 percent from the floor on the season but went 17-for-28 (61 percent) in the first half against the Cavs.
Still, UVA Wise found a way to get out in transition and work the ball inside for in-and-out threes in the second half.
Head coach Blake Mellinger said he and his coaching staff put an added emphasis on defense and transition coming into the game and re-emphasized those points at halftime.
The locker room discussion worked as UVA Wise finished the game with 19 fast break points and scored 30 points off 17 Newberry turnovers.
Additionally, for just the third time this season and the first time against a SAC opponent, UVA Wise finished in single-digits in the turnover column, coughing the ball up just nine times Saturday.
In UVA Wise's five wins this season, the Cavs are averaging just 11.6 turnovers per game and shooting 42.4 percent from beyond the three-point line.
Against Newberry, the Cavs went 15-for-39 (38.5 percent) from downtown which included an 8-for-16 mark in the final 20 minutes.
Despite getting out rebounded 35-27, UVA Wise finished with more second chance points than Newberry with 12 thanks to the efforts from seniors Ben Bryson and Rron Ukaj.
Ukaj had two offensive rebounds in the second half and Bryson had three.
Bryson had one of the best games of his career despite only scoring two points. He finished with four rebounds, three steals and dished a career-high seven assists in the win.
Bryson, who started in all 31 games last year, has accepted a new role coming off the bench this season. He's been sensational in that role for UVA Wise of late. In the last three games, Bryson has snagged 15 rebounds, dished 10 assists and scored 17 points for the Cavs.
Three Cavaliers finished in double figures in the game. Along with Fruster and Pacheco, sophomore guard Patrick Shelley had 14 points, four assists and a career-high five steals.
The win marks UVA Wise's first conference win of the season, moving the Cavs to 1-2 in league play ahead of its next matchup with Southwest Virginia rival Emory & Henry. The Cavs will travel to Emory on Wednesday, Dec. 13 with tip-off scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
