The Emory & Henry College Men’s Basketball Team (3-7, 0-3 SAC) put up a fight, but came up short against southwest Virginia rival the University of Virginia’s College at Wise (6-4, 2-2 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference play Wednesday night. The Cavaliers held off a late Wasps rally to take the win by a 77-75 final scoreline.
The first half was closely-contested and the score stood at 11-10 in favor of E&H with 12:51 remaining after a drained three-point jumper from junior guard Gabe Brown (Clintwood, Va.). The turnover bug bit the Wasps in the opening stanza, as they surrendered 11 miscues to keep the Cavaliers in the game early. The teams could not be separated in the initial 20 minutes of play and the score was all square at 36-36 heading into the locker rooms at halftime.
– E&H came out in the second half and pushed its lead to as many as seven at 50-43, but Wise had an answer and responded with a 12-4 run to jump ahead. The visitors from Wise continued to push the tempo and ballooned their lead out to nine with 2:12 left on the clock. The Wasps would not go quietly and went on an 8-0 run, all coming from the free throw line, to draw within just a point with 80 seconds to play. The Cavaliers were on the money at the line, as they knocked down a pair of free throws to gain some breathing room and E&H could not hit the game-tying three. Wise came up clutch at the charity stripe twice more and a desperation three from Brown at the buzzer was not enough as the visitors escaped with the 77-75 victory.
