WISE – It was a combination of halves; the first, an offensive onslaught and the second, a defensive slugfest that led to UVA Wise's (8-8, 4-4 SAC) 93-87 win over Anderson (7-7, 2-4 SAC) Saturday afternoon.
The Cavs entered the game hoping to right the ship that was a slump in which UVA Wise had lost four of its five previous games including two straight. Anderson, meanwhile, was still riding high on a three-game win streak which included a shocking upset win over Division I Furman on Dec. 30 to spark the streak.
The Cavs, desperate for a win coupled with the Trojans, oozing confidence after three straight victories collided for an entertaining first half of basketball in the David J. Prior Convocation Center.
Right out of the gate, the game was tied 10-10 at the 14:39 mark before the first media timeout.
Then, the two teams traded buckets for a shocking six minutes and forty seconds consecutively before a whistle finally blew at the 7:59 mark. The scoreboard read 35-29 in favor of the Cavs as the two teams strode to their respective benches for the under-12-minute media timeout.
The fast paced, up-and-down action resulted in a flurry of highlights for both teams before heading into the locker rooms at halftime.
Junior forward Lav Cvetkovic caught fire and couldn't miss for a stretch.
At the 12:37 mark, Cvetkovic nailed his first triple of the game to tie the game at 17 all. Just a few minutes later he made his second trey to put the Cavs up 29-26 with 9:57 left in the half. A mere 40 seconds later, Cvetkovic launched from deep range and buried his third three of the night. Not 34 seconds later, Cvetkovic found the ball in his hands on the left wing again. This time a hand was in his face despite his shoes standing multiple feet beyond the three-point line. It didn't matter. Cvetkovic' connected on his fourth three of the game and third triple in nearly a minute to the delight of the Prior Center crowd which erupted after seeing the ball drop into the net.
Cvetkovic made his sixth consecutive start against Anderson. The junior college transfer had struggled to find his footing at the Division II level through his first 10 games with the Cavs, but got the starting nod from head coach Blake Mellinger against Chowan on Dec. 18. In the six games since, Cvetkovic has averaged 16.7 points per game on 57.1 percent shooting from the floor and an astonishing 50 percent clip from downtown. He finished the night with a career high 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting in 29 minutes to pace the Cavs.
Anderson's sophomore guard Luke Denbow did his best to keep pace with Cvetkovic in the opening half. Denbow also went 4-of-5 from beyond the arc to close the half with 13 points.
Collectively the two teams combined to go 37-for-59 (62.7 percent) from the floor, 15-for-27 (55.6 percent) from downtown and 9-for-10 (90 percent) at the free throw line in the first 20 minutes.
The second half, however, was about defense for UVA Wise.
The Cavs stifled Anderson's three-point shooting from the first half and locked down the Trojans' leading scorer.
Senior guard Garrett Denbow (the older brother to Luke) entered Saturday's game on a tear. The Ashland, Ohio native was averaging 20.2 points per game which ranked second in the South Atlantic Conference. More so, Denbow had been leading the charge during the Trojans' three-game win streak, dropping 27, 27 and 33 points for an average of 29 points per game over a three game span.
Denbow, hounded defensively by a tandem of junior guard Zy'Ever Wingfield and senior guard Ben Bryson, was limited to just 11 points on eight shots in the game which included only one made three pointer.
As a team, UVA Wise held Anderson to only one made three despite 11 attempts in the second half and the Trojans shot just 15-for-38 (39.5 percent) overall to close out the game.
With 1:06 left, sophomore guard Zion Fruster connected on a free throw to give the Cavs an 89-80 lead. Still, Anderson wouldn't quit.
Redshirt sophomore forward Cole Middleton made a pair of free throws on the other end to cut the deficit to seven. Anderson forced a turnover on the next play and the ensuing layup made it just a five point game.
A few moments later, freshman guard AJ Wright Jr. stole the ball from the Cavs and then missed a pair of layups before fellow freshman Dallas Jones grabbed the offensive rebound, drew a foul and converted the put back attempt all in one motion. Jones made his free throw and suddenly it was a two-point ball game, 89-87, with just 20 seconds left.
The Cavs safely inbounded the ball to sophomore point guard Calen Lightford who was intentionally fouled. Lightford, a 94.4 percent free throw shooter on the season, made both free throws.
Down by four, Anderson forced up a contested shot from junior guard Austin Webb. It missed and Lightford snagged the board and was again fouled. Once more, he sunk the pair of clutch free throws to seal the win for UVA Wise.
Despite the loss, Anderson had a number of impressive performances in the game. Middleton, a Division I transfer from Cleveland State, led all scorers with 27 points while adding a career-high 15 rebounds to mark his third double-double in the last four games for the Trojans. Jones had 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting, giving him a double-figure scoring performance for just the third time this season and the most points in a game since Nov. 21.
The Cavs benefited from five players in double figures in the win, marking just the third time this season they've accomplished the feat. Along with Cvetkovic's team-high 24 points, Lightford added 13 points boosted by an 8-for-9 outing at the free throw line. Wingfield had 16 points to go along with eight rebounds and a career-high six assists. Fruster scored six baskets for a total of 17 points, tallying the 13th time this year he's put up 15 or more points in a game. Freshman guard Carmelo Pacheco scored 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting which included going 4-for-4 from downtown. Saturday was Pacheco's third game back in the lineup after missing four games to injury in December. His 17 points are the most he's scored since returning to the floor for the Cavs.
After the quick stop home, the Cavs hit the road for the next two games beginning with a tough test against Carson-Newman (12-3, 5-2 SAC) in Jefferson City, Tenn. on Wed. Jan. 17 with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
