CANCUN, MEXICO -- Thanks to walk-on Will Sherrill, Virginia's memories of the Moon Palace Resort are a little more favorable than they might have been otherwise.

The Cavaliers were looking at a second straight loss in the Cancun Challenge until Sherrill scored 15 points in the final 12:11 Wednesday as UVa rallied for a 76-65 victory over Cleveland State.

Virginia had dropped a 57-52 decision to Stanford on Tuesday night and trailed 41-32 at one point in the second half against Cleveland State.

"We haven't been responding well to adversity this year," said Sherrill on the UVa post-game radio show. "When teams get up on us, we just kind of fold.

"Tonight, we went into halftime and said, 'It's a long flight home. There's no way that we're coming out of Cancun with two losses.' Luckily in the second half, our shots started falling."

Virginia (4-2), which had gone 4-of-19 on 3-pointers against Stanford, went 10-of-17 from behind the arc against Cleveland State, including 8-of-11 in the second half.

Four UVa starters scored in double figures, led by sophomore Sylven Landesberg with 20 points. Sherrill, a 6-foot-9 junior who had never scored more than three points in a college game, finished with 18.

Sherrill, a walk-on from Phillips Andover Academy in Exeter, N.H., was 4-for-5 on 3-pointers and 7-of-9 overall. He also contributed six rebounds, three steals, two assists and one block in 24 minutes.

"When I was thinking about coming to Virginia, this is exactly what I pictured," said Sherrill, who played quarterback as a senior in high school, when he passed for 1,555 yards and 15 touchdowns. "I'm just thankful for coach [Tony] Bennett giving me the opportunity."

Cleveland State is coming off a 26-11 season that included an 84-69 victory over Wake Forest in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Vikings needed to replace three starters from that team, but returned guard Norris Cole, the team's second-leading scorer in 2008-2009.

Jeremy Montgomery came off the bench Wednesday night to lead the Vikings (3-3) with 14 points, followed by Cole with 13.

The Vikings shot 65.2 percent from the field in the first half and 55.3 percent for the game, but they were outrebounded 32-18. Cleveland State led 34-27 at the half, outscoring the Cavs 9-1 after Virginia had gone ahead 26-25.

Sherrill gave Virginia its first lead of the second half on a 3-pointer that made it 49-46. Then, after the Vikings had retaken the lead, Sherrill's two-point jumper gave the Cavaliers a 56-54 lead and they never trailed again.

"At the end ... they started to face-guard me and then we got to the lane and got some easy layups," Sherrill said. "It was pick-your-poison tonight. Everybody was on point in the second half. Hopefully, it's the start of good things for us."

Virginia entertains National Invitation Tournament champion Penn State at 7 p.m. Monday in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

VIRGINIA (4-2)

Scott 6-10 3-4 15, Meyinsse 1-2 0-0 2, Farrakhan 4-7 0-0 11, Zeglinski 4-7 0-0 10, Landesberg 6-13 7-9 20, Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Baker 0-2 0-1 0, Sene 0-2 0-0 0, Sherrill 7-9 0-0 18, Jones 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-53 10-14 76.

CLEVELAND ST. (3-3)

Cunningham 2-5 0-0 6, Pogue 5-5 3-6 13, Harmon 3-9 0-0 7, Cole 5-10 0-0 12, Brown 2-4 0-0 4, James 0-0 0-0 0, Montgomery 5-8 1-1 14, Woods 0-0 0-0 0, McCoy 0-0 0-0 0, Ajere 3-4 0-1 6, Kamczyc 1-2 0-0 3, Latas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-47 4-8 65.

Halftime--Cleveland St. 34-27. 3-Point Goals--Virginia 10-17 (Sherrill 4-5, Farrakhan 3-5, Zeglinski 2-5, Landesberg 1-1, Jones 0-1), Cleveland St. 9-21 (Montgomery 3-4, Cole 2-4, Cunningham 2-4, Kamczyc 1-1, Harmon 1-7, Brown 0-1). Fouled Out--Brown. Rebounds--Virginia 32 (Scott 8), Cleveland St. 18 (Cunningham, Pogue 4). Assists--Virginia 17 (Landesberg 5), Cleveland St. 14 (Cole 5). Total Fouls--Virginia 10, Cleveland St. 16. A--NA.