Cavs Stay Perfect at Home, Defeat 20 th-Ranked Buffs

January 19, 2008
BOXSCORE

Wise, Va. – Trailing 29-27, UVa-Wise scored the next nine points and never lost the lead the last 16 minutes to stay perfect at home with a 69-57 win over Milligan College in Appalachian Athletic Conference men’s basketball Saturday afternoon.

The Highland Cavaliers (8-11/4-4 AAC) improved to 5-0 in Fred B. Greear Gym and 4-0 in league games. The home team trailed for just one minute in the first half and a total of 26 seconds in the second half of the 40 minute contest.

Senior Jarred Soles (Yorktown, Va.) led all scorers with 17 points with six of six from the foul line. Pance Kecev (Nickelsville, Va.) and Robert Amis (Hazard, Ky.) netted 10 points apiece with both hitting two triples. Bryan Sexton (Lebanon, Va.) chipped in eight points and nine boards. Justin Sorensen (Suffolk, Va.) grabbed eight caroms.

Ike Weaver made six of 11 attempts for 14 points to pace Milligan (14-4/5-3 AAC). Tyler Estepp and Derrick Nave both added 11 points.

UVa-Wise led by as many as nine points, 25-16, on a three-pointer by Soles just inside 10 minutes in the opening half. Milligan held strong and battled to within two, 27-25, at half.

Weaver made the opening two buckets of the second half to give the Buffs what would be their only lead the rest of the way, 29-27, with 19:02 remaining. Kecev hit a jumper and Seth Gibson (Wytheville, Va.) made a foul shot to edge in front 30-29. The run of the contest continued with a trey by Amis on the right wing and a conventional three-point play by Travis Brannon (Glade Spring, Va.) for a 36-29 tally.

Milligan pulled to within three, 36-33, one minute later at 15:12. The Cavs answered with back-to-back three-pointers by Gibson and Amis for a 42-33 tally. The home team saw its lead never shrink below five the final 13 minutes before taking away the 69-57 victory.

UVa-Wise will next play Tuesday night at Union College for a 7:30 p.m. affair.