HARTSVILLE, SC – Coker grabbed the early lead and led by as many as 19 points before UVA Wise mounted a furious second-half comeback that fell oh so short as Coker survived the Highland Cavaliers 105-102 Saturday afternoon.
UVA Wise outscored the Cobras 66-53 during the comeback effort.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Result: Coker 105, UVA Wise 102
Records: UVA Wise (12-7, 9-6 SAC); Coker (13-5, 9-5 SAC)
Location: Hartsville, SC | DeLoach Center
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Coker opened the game with a 7-0 run and led 12-3 before a
Lav Cvetkovic' basket sparked the Cavs, who battled back to cut the lead to 12-10. The Cobras then extended the lead to 22-12, only to see UVA Wise cut back to four on two occasions. Coker then held the Cavs scoreless over the next two minutes, scoring eight points during that stretch. They made a later run to extend the lead to 45-26 with 3:14 left in the half. They maintained that advantage throughout the rest of the half before a
Kolier Pruett three-pointer with eight seconds left to make the score 52-36 at the half.
- Coker maintained a 15-17 point lead over the first four minutes of the second half. With the score at 66-51,
Patrick Shelley hit a three-pointer, followed soon afterward by another basket from Pruett to make the lead 66-56 with 15:48 remaining. The teams traded baskets over the next six minutes, when
Calen Lightford hit a three-pointer and
Bradley Dean scored on the next Cavalier possession to make the lead single digits for the first time since early in the game. Another Lightford basket a few minutes later cut the lead to 86-79 with 7:22 left. Coker then scored six quick points to make the lead 13 again. Both teams scored over their next few possessions, but the lead hovered around 12 points until less than three minutes remaining. A Dean trey sparked a seven point run, but Coker hit a fast break layup to make the lead 100-92 with 1:32 left. A Dean basket sparked an 8-2 run with Cvetkovic' scoring with nine seconds left to cut the lead to two. At that point it came down to free throws and Coker hit a pair to push the lead back to four. The Cavs missed their next shot, but Pruett grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He hit both, cutting the lead to 104-102 with four seconds remaining. UVA Wise fouled and Coker hit one of their two free throws, but the Cavs were unable to get a shot off in the final three seconds and fell 105-102.
- Five Cobras scored in double figures, led by 22 points apiece from Judson Coan and Jordan Vaysbakh. Coan also led the team with nine rebounds. Glenn Bynum scored 14 points, Ian Blue had 12, and Max Hurray had 11 points.
GETTING WISE
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Bradley Dean had 26 points to lead UVA Wise. He also pulled down seven rebounds and had three assists.
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Lav Cvetkovic' had 24 points and eight rebounds.
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Patrick Shelley scored 13 points, while
Kolier Pruett had 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
- The Cavs had their second-best shooting percentage of the season as they hit 53 percent of their shots, compared to 49.3 percent by Coker.
UP NEXT
The Cavs return home to host local archrival Emory & Henry Wednesday evening at 5:30 p.m. The Wasps come into the game with a 5-14 overall and 3-12 SAC record after defeating Newberry 78-67 Saturday afternoon.
