Keliese Frye throws down a dunk in Carson-Newman's 67-65 win over UVA Wise on Dec. 17, 2025.
Keliese Frye throws down a dunk in Carson-Newman's 67-65 win over UVA Wise on Dec. 17, 2025.
December 17, 2025

Frye’s last-minute lay in preserves defensive dub over Cavs

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Keliese Frye (Newport, Ky.) connected on a layup with 21seconds left to preserve a 67-65 Carson-Newman (7-2, 3-1 South Atlantic Conference) win over UVA Wise (9-3, 3-2 SAC) Wednesday night in Holt Fieldhouse. 

VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview

VIDEO: Highlights

VIDEO: Keliese Frye Interview

VIDEO: Rylan Houck Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Keliese Frye (Newport, Ky.) connected on a layup with 21seconds left to preserve a 67-65 Carson-Newman (7-2, 3-1 South Atlantic Conference) win over UVA Wise (9-3, 3-2 SAC) Wednesday night in Holt Fieldhouse. 

"Wise has a very good team. They have very good parts. They're big, and have great length," head coach Chuck Benson said. "They defend well and put a lot of pressure on the rim and the paint because of their size and ability.  They are a major challenge.  Kudos to our guys for being locked in on our preparation and taking that preparation and consistently executing it on a very high level.  Wise is a veteran club, it's impossible to go against that and think that they'll lay down for you.  There was never a time in this one where I thought we could go on cruise control. Kudos to our guys, cause when push came to shove late, guys made some plays. We responded well to the adverse competition."   

Frye's bucket came with just two seconds left on the shot clock after Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) tipped a loose ball to him cutting along the right baseline. Frye finished with his right hand to put a halt to a 2:30 Eagle scoring drought and give C-N a 65-63 lead. 

The drought saw UVA Wise rattle off a 6-0 run to tie the game with 48 seconds left on a Yoro Diallo tipin.  Carson-Newman had led by nine, 61-52 with 4:32 remaining after a Matt Bilbrey (Crossville, Tenn.) elbow jumper.  UVA Wise erased an early 15-point second half lead after the Eagles put together a 12-1 run spanning the halftime break. 

"We told our guys that we needed to have great poise," Benson said. "We knew Wise was going to be stingy in the halfcourt. We had to find ways to supplement scores between getting seconds, getting stops in transition and let that flow positivity instead of getting frustrated that scoring in the halfcourt is difficult." 

Kolier Pruett went for the win for the Cavs with a three with five seconds left, but left it short. Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) connected on a pair of free throws to give C-N a two possession advantage and the win. 

The 65 points UVA Wise scored were the second-fewest on the year. The Cavs entered the contest with the conference's second-highest scoring offense and were held 24 points below their average.  The 25 points Wise put up in the first half are the fewest by an Eagle opponent in the first half of a game this season. 

With the defensive effort came the limiting of Wise's leading scorer.  Diallo was pacing the Cavs with just under 16 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.  He scored eight points on 4-of-12 shooting and had two boards.  It took 24 minutes for him to find the bottom of the barrel.

"He has incredible skillset in transition," Benson said. "Our guys did a good job in transition d and contained the ball with secondary helpers floating around.  You can't cover him, Roberts and Ramsey. That's mission impossible. We tried to force tough twos as much as we could." 

While Diallo was slowed, The Citadel transfer Kam Roberts paced the Cavs with 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting.  Evan Ramsey was Wise's only other double-digit scorer. He had 11 points and went 5-for-5 from the field. 

Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) guided four C-N double-digit scorers with his 38th career 20-point game. The SAC's leading scorer finished with 25 points, six boards and a career-high matching six assists. 

He moved past Sawyer Williams and into 11th on the all-time scoring list with his efforts. 

"Our team respects and appreciates his consistency," Benson said. "He, much like Sawyer, is just fueled by competition. I'm so happy for Jack. He's an incredible young man both on and off the court. He forces defenders to respond. He led our ability to get to the free throw line tonight, which was absolutely critical." 

Browder was 7-for-18 from the field, but 6-of-12 from twos.  He was fouled nine times and connected on 10-of-12 free throws. 

Bilbrey finished with 13 points he was 4-of-8 from the field and 2-for-4 from three. 

Frye and Rylan Houck (Oxford, Ala.) both had 10.  Houck was 5-of-7 from the field, while Frye was 5-of-8. 

Carson-Newman assisted on 18 of its 25 made baskets. Braden Ilic (Morristown, Tenn.) retuned to the line up after missing Saturday's game against Anderson with an injury and dialed in seven assists for his 15th career game with at least five dimes.

UVA Wise entered the game 25th nationally in rebounding margin, an average of +8.2 on the glass.  C-N outrebounded the Cavs 36-32 after getting smashed by nine on the glass Saturday against Anderson. 

"We made a big deal," Benson said. "There is great benefit when we rebound the ball. In  game like tonight with them having superior length and size, we had to match their physicality and make the first break on the ball, being proactive. Kudos to our guys for following through with that in a consistent fashion." 

Carson-Newman shot 46.3 percent from the field.  However the Eagles made three fewer baskets than Wise, which connected on 28-of-65 shots (43.1 percent).  The Eagles were able to make up that difference with a 13-of-19 effort at the charity stripe.  Conversely, Wise was 6-of-9 at the line. 

The teams both struggled from deep, going a combined 7-of-36 from range.  Carson-Newman was 4-of-19 (21.1 percent), while the Cavs connected on 3-of-17 threes (17.6 percent). 

UVA Wise had more points in the paint (44-38), more points off turnovers (15-10), more second chance points (12-8), more fast break points (14-13) and more bench points (14-2). 

"Credit to our guys, because when this all shakes out," Benson said. "Wise is a team that I would not be surprised to see in the NCAA Southeast Regional." 

Carson-Newman closes out the pre-Christmas portion of its schedule Saturday at Wingate. Tipoff between the Eagles and Bulldogs is set for 2 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 1:45 p.m. with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. Fans can go "On Press Row" and watch/listen to the broadcast crew provide the call on YouTube. 

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