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Wise, VA: The Alice Lloyd College Eagles had the difficult task of facing NCAA DII opponent UVA-Wise on Thursday night. ALC battled hard until the buzzer sounded before dropping a close 79-73 decision. The matchup was held in Wise, Virginia.

In the opening half, things started well for the taller hosts. They sprinted out to a quick 11-5 lead in the first three minutes of play and looked poised to blow the game open. However, the Eagles settled down and answered with an 11-0 run of their own to leap ahead 16-11 at the 13:11 mark. When junior forward Chance Cornett drained a 23-foot bomb at the 3:21 mark, the Eagles advantage reached its peak at 40-27. Despite being outshot from the foul line 17 to 2, the visitors would go into the locker room at intermission sporting a 43-35 cushion.

In the second half, Wise would drain three trifectas in the opening three minutes and use an 11-2 run of their own to take their first lead in almost twenty minutes, 46-45. The Cavaliers would build their cushion to as much as seven, but Alice Lloyd refused to go away. The Eagles would get the deficit back down to just three (68-65) after senior forward Simon Christon rammed home a three-point bucket with 3:25 left to play. After a defensive stop, his club would then get a look to tie the contest, but the attempt fell short. Unfortunately, UVA would then come through with a clutch bucket on their next possession to finally end the threat.

For Wise (2-1), they had five players reach double figures, with junior guard Michal Seals leading the way with 21 points.

UVA-Wise finished shooting 37% (27-73) from the floor and was 26.7% (8-30) from behind the arc. Their advantage was at the charity stripe, where they swished 81% (17-21). They also added 54 rebounds, 12 assists, and 6 steals.

 ALC (2-4) placed three players in double figures. Junior Blake Smith wound up with 21 points and tied Christon for the team lead in rebounds with 8. The guard was joined in double digits by Cornett with 14 points who also added 7 rebounds. Sophomore guard Noah Young added 10 points and 6 rebounds to the cause. Senior guard Ryan House led the squad with 5 assists while contributing 7 points and 7 rebounds as well. He also tied Young with 2 steals apiece.

Alice Lloyd shot 35.3% (30-89) from the floor and 32.3%% (10-31) from behind the arc. They finished 60% from the foul line, connecting on just 3-5 tosses. They also added 51 rebounds, 14 assists, and 6 steals.

Alice Lloyd gets a well-deserved break before they return to the hardwood. On Thursday, November 27th, they travel to New Albany (IN) to open River States Conference play against 20th ranked Indiana University Southeast in a doubleheader with the Lady Eagles. The women tipoff at 5:30 while the men have a 7:30 pm start time.