DEAN ERUPTS FOR 40, CAVS ERASE 13-POINT DEFICIT TO WIN ON KIDS DAY
More than 2,200 local elementary school aged children turned out for Kids Day 2022 at the Prior Center and the youngsters were greeted with an early holiday present. Redshirt sophomore Bradley Dean erupted for a career-high 40 points to lead UVA Wise to a 94-86 overtime South Atlantic Conference victory over Limestone Thursday.
Limestone (3-6, 1-2 SAC) led by as many as 13 points with 5:04 to play before UVA Wise (7-3, 1-2 SAC) mounted a comeback.
Rron Ukaj started the comeback bid with a hustling offensive rebound. The ball would eventually end up in the hands of Ben Bryson who drilled a 3-pointer to cut the Saints' lead to 75-65 with 4:43 remaining.
Limestone would sink a pair of foul shots to run the lead back to 11 before Dean hit a 3-pointer to get it to a 77-68 contest. The 3-pointer by Dean would be the start of a 12-0 scoring spurt that culminated in a pair of free throws from Luke Lawson with 1:05 to play to tie the game at 77.
The Saints would get a pair of foul shots from Jordan Preaster to put them back in front by a pair, only to see Dean tie the game on a layup with under 30 seconds to play.
Limestone would turn the ball over on the next possession with under four seconds to play but UVA Wise's last-second shot would fall short, forcing the game to overtime.
Ukaj would get the overtime session started with a bucket to give the Cavs their first lead since the opening 90 seconds of the contest.
The visitors would immediately regain the lead when Preaster canned a 3-pointer to make it an 82-81 contest. Dean continued his torrid pace with a bucket to put Blake Mellinger's squad back in front only to see Limestone's Isayah Owens counter with a 3-pointer putting the Saints ahead 84-83 with 2:36 remaining.
A possession later, Zion Fruster connected on a 3-pointer off a Lawson assist to give UVA Wise an 86-84 lead. It would be a lead the team would not relinquish.
After an empty Limestone possession, Dean would make a pair of charity shots to make it a two-possession game. The Saints' Ben Gahlert would miss two foul shots on the next possession before Ukaj scored off a Fruster assist to make it a 90-84 affair.
Dean and Bryson would then salt the game away by going 4-for-4 from the stripe to finish off the win.
The 40-point outburst by Dean is the most by any player in the SAC this season. The Gate City, Va. product finished 13-of-24 from the field while making 11-of-12 foul shots.
As a team, the Cavs shot 50.9 percent from the floor and made 28-of-34 free throws.
Neither team turned the ball over much; UVA Wise turned it over 12 times while Limestone committed just nine turnovers.
The Saints were led by Preaster who came off the bench to net a team-best 19 points. Richard Nunez added 16 points while Gahlert chipped in 15 and Owens tallied 12 in defeat.
Fruster (14) and Bryson (11) scored in double figures to aid Dean's career offensive performance.
Lawson scored nine points, grabbed nine rebounds, dished out seven assists and blocked four shots.
The Saints shot 56.3 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes but finished the game shooting just 43.7 percent. Limestone made just 13-of-39 shots after the opening 20 minutes.
The win halted a three-game losing skid for the Cavs; UVA Wise will be back in action Saturday at Coker for another league game. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. and the action can be heard live on FM 92.5 (wlsdradio.com)
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