NEWBERRY, S.C. – The Newberry College men's basketball team plays host to the Cavaliers of UVA Wise tomorrow night, March 1, at 7 p.m. in a South Atlantic Conference Playoffs Quarterfinal game in Eleazer Arena. The Wolves, who earned the No. 2 seed in the Piedmont Division, are making their fourth consecutive SAC Playoff appearance. The Cavs, the No. 3 seed from the Mountain Division, are making their first ever SAC Playoff appearance since joining the conference in 2019-20.

Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for youth ages 6-12, $3 for seniors 60+, and $3 for active/retired military. All Newberry College students will gain admission free of charge. (BUY TICKETS HERE: https://bit.ly/3Y4rTYJ)
Scouting the Cavaliers: UVA Wise finished the regular season with a 17-11 overall record, and an even 9-9 record in SAC competition. In their lone matchup with Newberry back on Feb. 4, the Cavs fell 79-60 in Eleazer Arena. In their last game of the regular season, UVA Wise beat Lenoir-Rhyne at home 90-68. Though only up by three at halftime, the Cavs used a 55-point second half to pull away from the Bears. They were led Luke Lawson's 28 points, 26 from Bradley Dean and 16 from Patrick Shelley. Dean leads the South Atlantic Conference in points per game with 20.7. As a collective unit, the Cavs shoot 47.7% from the floor – the third-best percentage in the conference – while hitting 40% of their 3-point attempts, the best in the SAC. Defensively, however, UVA Wise lets up 77.7 points per game, the fifth-worst mark in the conference.

Scouting the Wolves: Newberry closed the regular season with a thrilling 78-76 win over Emory & Henry on Saturday afternoon to bring its record to 19-9 overall and 12-6 in conference competition. The 19 wins against Division II schools is a program record, as is the .667 winning percentage in conference play. In that game, senior QuanDaveon McCollum (Clio, S.C.) paced the Wolves with 24 points and nine rebounds. Joining him in double-figures were fellow senior TJ Brown (Columbia, S.C.) with 13 points, Jalen Johnson (Sumter, S.C.) with 12, and Andrew Robinson (Lexington, S.C.) – who scored the game-winner – with 10. McCollum's 17 points per game are the second most in the SAC. As a team, the Wolves are second in the conference in rebounds per game with 39.4. Their average of 15.2 offensive rebounds per game is not only the best in the SAC, it is the second best in all of Division II. Newberry also holds opponents to just 69.3 points per game, the No. 1 scoring defense in the conference.