GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Cy Hardy hit the game-winning layup with 20.3 seconds remaining as the UVA Wise men’s basketball team rallied to a thrilling 83-81 South Atlantic Conference win over Tusculum Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena.
The Highland Cavaliers (20-7, 13-6 SAC) move into a tie for third place in the league standings with Catawba. Tusculum (10-15, 6-13 SAC) drops to a tie for ninth place in the SAC table with Newberry.
UVA Wise used a 10-2 run in the final 2:13 of the contest as they overcame a 79-73 deficit to complete the season-sweep over the Pioneers in back-to-back campaigns.
Evan Ramsey buried a pair of free throws to trim the TU lead to 79-75, The Cavaliers applied a full court press that forced back-to-back turnovers by Tusculum resulting in a Yoro Diallo layup and Ramsey drew a foul and made both free throws as Wise trailed 79-78 with 1:38 remaining.
Tusculum nearly turned it over again but Bryce Jackson drew a foul 14 seconds later. Jackson had made six straight free throws to start the game, but missed his last two including the front end of a one-and-bonus.
UVA Wise got off a three-point try and missed by Patrick Shelley came down with the rebound. Wise missed a close shot but Ramsey came up with the one-handed tip-in as the Cavs led 80-79 with 55 seconds on the clock.
Tusculum went to the hot-hand in freshman guard Jordan Attia as he connected on a 16-foot jumper for his 20th point as the Pioneers regained the lead at 81-80 with 33 seconds to go.
But the 20.3 seconds left, Hardy connected on a driving layup as Wise retook the lead at 82-81.
After a timeout, Tusculum worked to try to get the game-winner, but TU would not get a shot off as the Pioneers lost the ball out of bounds with 3.7 seconds remaining.
TU would foul Hardy with 2.6 seconds remaining. After Hardy made the front end of the bonus, Tusculum called its last timeout. Hardy would miss the second try as Tusculum’s TJ Printup came up with the rebound. He got off a ¾ desperation heave that hit off the backboard as the Cavaliers pulled out the win.
Shelley led the Cavs with his 19 points, while Ramsey recorded his third straight double-double and seventh of the season as he posted 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Diallo added 15 points and eight rebounds while Hardy accounted for a dozen markers with four assists and two steals.
Attia led all scorers with his season-best 20 points as he went 9-of-13 from the field. Jackson, the reigning SAC Player of the Week, tallied 17 points and six boards. Printup, who was battling a stomach virus during the game, gutted out a tremendous performance as he notched his fifth double-double this year with 14 points and 10 rebounds. He also dished out five assists, five steals and a career-high four blocked shots.
Tusculum jumped out to a 13-4 advantage to start the game following a three-pointer by Jackson. TU would stretch that lead to as many as 14 (29-15) following a Damjan Vukcevic free throw with 9:04 remaining in the first period.
UVA Wise whittled to deficit down to two at 38-36 after a Shelley reverse layup with 1:15 on the scoreboard. Vukcevic’s hook shot with 30 seconds to go extended the TU lead to 40-36. But the Cavs would get four looks on the final possession of the half including Ramsey’s tip-in just before the buzzer as Tusculum led 40-38 at the intermission.
UVA Wise opened the second half on a 7-0 run capped off by a Diallo layup after a turnover as the Cavaliers led 47-40 with 17:07 remaining.
With Wise ahead 49-44, Tusculum went on a 7-1 spurt and regained the lead on Attia’s 15-foot jumper with 13:23 on the clock as the Pioneers led 52-51.
Pruett made back-to-back buckets to give UVA Wise at 55-52 lead, but Tusculum answered with a furious 11-0 run sparked by a pair of triples from AJ Murphy as the Pioneers were on top, 63-55 with 9:06 to go.
The Cavaliers answered with a 13-6 run as Pruett put home a dunk and Shelley followed with a dunk of his own as Wise trailing 69-68 with 5:23 left on the clock.
Jackson made a pair of free throws, but Diallo answered with two of his own as TU held onto a 71-70 lead with 4:26 remaining.
Tusculum responded with an 8-3 run with Jackson coming up with a 16-foot pull-up jumper as the Pioneers led 79-73 with 2:35 remaining to set the stage for the UVA Wise rally.
TU finished the game shooting 50.8 percent (30-of-59) including 9-of-20 from three-point territory (45%). UVA Wise fired at a 47.8 percent clip and out-rebounded Tusculum 38-33 on the boards and held a dominating 48-20 advantage in points in the paint.
The Pioneers forced 16 turnovers on 11 steals including three by Amari Allen and two from Attia.
Jackson eclipsed the 1,200-point plateau for his career as his 1,206 points are the 22nd most in program history and is 12 points away from match Pat Compton’s 1,218 points from 1999-2003.
With his five steals, Printup becomes the first Pioneer to 60 steals in a season since James Boshears’ 62 thefts in the 1994-95 campaign.
Tusculum returns to action this Saturday as they travel to Hickory to take on Lenoir-Rhyne at Shuford Arena.
