Bluefield Outlasts UVa-Wise Men’s Basketball

November 23, 2005
Boxscore

Wise, VA – After leading by as many as 11 points with 2:12 left, Bluefield College had to outlast the University of Virginia’s College at Wise to pull out the victory. The Cavs’ Zydrunnas Rackauskas game-tying three-point attempt at the buzzer fell short to allow the Rams an 85-82 victory.

Bluefield improved to 5-2 on the early season and 3-0 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference while UVa-Wise saw its record even to 4-4 and 1-2 in the AAC.

Trailing 78-67 with 2:12 in the game, the Cavs chipped away quickly to outscore the Rams 11-2 over the next minute capped by a Jarred Soles layup to make it 80-78 with 1:03. Soles added a foul shot to make it 80-79 but Bluefield made five of eight foul shots pushed it back to 85-82 with five seconds. UVa-Wise rushed the ball down but Rackauskas three-pointer fell short to seal the 85-82 win for Bluefield.

Jarred Soles and Parker Gemmell paced the Cavs with 22 and 18 points. The two combined to shooting 16 of 26 from the floor. Rackauskas posted a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards while Seth Gibson added 11 points from the bench.

Paul Daniel led Bluefield’s balanced scoring with 16 points while Hodges Anthony dropped in 13 tallies and four assists. Curtis Dixon and Ben Smalls added 12 points apiece.

The first half was a tight one between the two teams. No team had more than a four-point advantage and saw 11 ties. The Cavs’ Gemmell drained a three-pointer with four seconds left for a 40-37 lead at intermission.

UVa-Wise continued it hot run to start the latter half by scoring the first three jumpers, two by Jarred Soles and one by Rackauskas for a 46-37 lead. Bluefield battled back to tie the contest, 51-51, on a driving layup from Hodges Anthony with 13:23. Soles gave UVa-Wise its last lead for a while, 59-58, before the Rams went on a 12-1 spurt for a 70-60 lead with 4:54 remaining.

The Cavs have a short few days off before traveling to Farmville, Virginia to face NCAA Division I Longwood University Saturday afternoon starting at 3:00 p.m.