EMORY, VA — UVA Wise secured their first winning season since 2010 in dramatic fashion as Blake Mellinger's club held off rival Emory & Henry by a score of 79-76 to complete a season series sweep inside the King Center on Wednesday.
 

WHAT HAPPENED
UVA Wise (15-10, 8-8 SAC) and Emory & Henry (14-10, 6-9 SAC) battled possession by possession for the first 12 minutes of action, highlighted by four-made field goals from leading-scorer Bradley Dean and a Patrick Shelley slam with less than 11 minutes to go in the half.

It wouldn't be until the 8:26 marker that the Wasps got things rolling with an 8-0 run led by a Marshall Klug three-ball from the right wing.

Climbing back from their deficit, Dean picked up an old-fashioned three-point play to get his squad back within two. Soon after, a run from Jalen Leftwich and Kevin Grau Rodriguez pushed the Wasps ahead by nine with three minutes to go. Despite two late made jumpers from Shelley and Kervens Yacinthe, the Cavaliers were down by six going into the locker room.

Emory & Henry caused pushed a heavy defense on the Cavaliers in second half action. UVA Wise missed a set of shots early in the first minute and an and-one from Jake Moynihan had catapulted the Wasps ahead by seven.

The Cavaliers fought back with a two solid buckets from Dean and a tough layup from Rron Ukaj to even scores at 50 at the 16:19 mark. From then on, neither team would get farther than four points ahead of the other. At the 2:47 mark, a layup from Moynihan and a sinker from the charity stripe would give Emory & Henry a four-point lead. UVA Wise responded right back with a three-point bucket from Lightford to stun the student section, and a floater from Dean pushed the Cavaliers ahead by one with less than two minutes to go.

Neither team would get a shot off until three seconds to go when a foul by Patrick Antonelli drawn by Dean would essentially end the contest. Dean sank both of his free throws and the Cavaliers would walk away with yet another victory over Emory & Henry.

"It was a really gutsy performance in a really tough atmosphere," Coach Mellinger stated. "I thought we did a really good job defending in the second half and in the end, we were just able to make one more play than they did."
 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
UVA Wise finished the night with a 45.7-percent showing from the field, while the Wasps put up a 41.1-percent. Neither team shot exceptionally well from beyond the arc. The Cavaliers hit nine-of-26 while the Wasps hit seven-of-23.

Dean led the Cavaliers with 24 points and picked up eight boards. Patrick Shelley tallied a career-high seven field goals.

"I had a great game plan set up for me," Dean added. "I give all the credit to my teammates for setting up screens for me and my coaches who set up some great plays for me."

Moynihan led the Wasps with 17 points and nine rebounds while Gabe Brown put down a double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds.

UP NEXT

Next, UVA Wise plays non-conference Clinton College at the Prior Center on Saturday, Feb. 18 with a 4 PM tip.