WISE, Va. – The Newberry College men's basketball team fell on the road Saturday to UVA Wise in a South Atlantic Conference matchup, 79-69.

Drake Downs led the Scarlet and Gray with a career-high 21 points to go along with six rebounds. Downs shot an efficient 10 of 11 from the field for the afternoon.

Caleb Byrd (11 points) also reached double figures for Newberry (1-5, 0-2 South Atlantic Conference), making 4 of 10 shots and dishing out three assists. Jalen Johnson grabbed a team-high eight of the Wolves' 35 rebounds and also scored nine points via a trio of trifectas.

The Wolves and UVA Wise (5-4, 1-2 South Atlantic Conference) started the game off trading buckets with the score tied at 8 at the first media timeout of the opening half.

After the Cavs raced out to a 21-12 lead following that break, the Wolves responded in kind with a 10-5 run to trim the deficit to four, 26-22, by the next media timeout with 7:31 left in the first half.

Newberry extended the initial run to 26-11 to go up 38-32 with two minutes remaining before halftime and eventually took a 40-38 lead into the break. The Wolves shot 17 of 28 (60.7%) from the floor and 4 of 9 (44.4%) from deep in the game's first 20 minutes.

The Cavs then opened the second half making four quick 3-pointers as part of a 16-3 spurt to regain a 54-43 advantage with 13:53 to play. Their lead stabilized for much of the second half with the Wolves unable to get closer than seven points the rest of the way.

On the game, Newberry outrebounded UVA Wise 35-27 and the bench outscored the Cavs' 29-9. The Wolves also dominated in the paint to the tune of a 40-24 edge.

Newberry returns home for a game this Wednesday (Dec. 13) against the Limestone Saints at 7:30 in Eleazer Arena.