EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry University Men's Basketball Team (2-3, 0-1 SAC) made a furious rally to come back from a deficit that reached as many as 18, but came up just short to Southwest Virginia rival the University of Virginia's College at Wise (3-1, 1-0 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference play Wednesday night. The Cavaliers earned the win by a narrow 72-69 margin.
The Basics
FINAL SCORE – UVA Wise 72, Emory & Henry 69
LOCATION – Emory, Virginia
VENUE – Bob Johnson Court at the John Rutledge King Center
RECORDS – Emory & Henry (2-3, 0-1 SAC); UVA Wise (3-1, 1-0 SAC)
How It Happened
- The Cavaliers came ready to play from the jump as they scored the opening 10 points of the game. E&H closed the gap to six, but Wise responded with eight consecutive points to increase their margin out to 20-6 and force an Emory & Henry timeout. The Cavaliers continued to pour it on as they saw their advantage reach 18 at 28-10 with 8:28 to play in the opening half. The Wasps slowly chipped away at the deficit and managed to draw within five at 28-23 at the 4:17 mark. The teams continued to trade buckets down the stretch and the visitors from Wise took a 38-32 lead into the halftime break.
- Wise pushed their lead back out to nine at 45-36, but the Wasps answered with a 15-2 run over the following five minutes of gameplay and back-to-back buckets from freshman forward Draven Pilson (Winston-Salem, N.C.) gave the home team their first lead of the game at 51-47 and forced a timeout from the visitors. A couple of quick buckets from the Cavaliers put them back in the lead 55-51 with just under 10 minutes to play. Wise ballooned its lead out to as many as 11 at 68-57 at the two-minute mark, but E&H would not go quietly. The Wasps utilized another run, this one of the 12-2 variety and an old-fashioned three-point play from sophomore guard Jackson Crawford (Daleville, Va.) made it a one-point game at 70-69. Bradley Dean stepped up to the charity stripe and drained a pair of free throws to give the visitors a three-point lead with five ticks remaining. A last-second three from Crawford went begging and the Cavaliers escaped Emory with the SAC victory.
Emory & Henry Individual Leaders
- Crawford had a standout night for the Wasps as he posted a career-high 23 points, three rebounds, one assist and a steal. Junior forward Assad Madassalia (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added eight points, seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal while redshirt sophomore guard Christian Drummer (Lawrenceville, Ga.) had eight points, five rebounds and a steal off of the bench.
- Senior guard/forward Gabe Brown (Clintwood, Va.) finished with seven points, five rebounds, one block and a steal. Pilson chipped in with seven points and four rebounds while freshman guard Korbin Dixon (Milton, Ontario, CANADA) recorded six points, six rebounds, three steals and an assist.
UVA Wise Individual Leaders
- Dean was the leader for the Cavaliers as he had a game-high 26 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal while Lav Cvetkovic tacked on 12 points, three steals, two assists and a pair of rebounds.
- Anderson Cummins contributed 10 points, five rebounds and a steal off of the bench while Evan Ramsey had a game-high 13 rebounds, four blocks, four points and a pair of assists.
A Deeper Look
- The Wasps shot 31-for-69 (44.9%) from the field compared to 24-for-62 (38.7%) for UVA Wise. The Cavaliers drained 10 shots from three-point range while E&H could manage to make just three buckets from distance.
- Emory & Henry outrebounded Wise by a small 41-39 margin but held a massive 52-26 advantage on points in the paint.
- The Cavaliers forced the Wasps to give up the ball on 14 occasions while only giving it up 12 times.
- The difference in the game was at the free throw line where Wise was 14-for-17 (82.4%) while E&H was only 4-for-6 (66.7%).
Up Next
- Emory & Henry continues its homestand on Saturday, November 23 when the Wasps host Lenoir-Rhyne University. Tip is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. as the second half of a doubleheader with the women's team.
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