Men’s Basketball picks up two wins
0The University of Pikeville Men’s Basketball team capped off a great week of traveling after beating Campbellsville on Saturday night, Nov. 23. Keala King led the game with 23 points, while Elisha Justice added 20 and Bruce Reed 17. The Bears improved to 7-1 for the season and ended up shooting 50 percent from the field. UPIKE ended the game strong out scoring Campbellsville 50-30 in the final 20 minutes. What looked like a close game throughout changed after that last stretch of points from the Bears enabled them to pull away and eventually win the game 79-61.
UPIKE also played St. Catherine College two days prior to the Campbellsville game, and it turned out to be a very entertaining fixture. With just under nine minutes left on the clock UPIKE found themselves trailing by 16 points, but were able to go on an 18-3 run to bring the game back to within one point. Despite this comeback from UPIKE with 54 seconds left on the clock Taron Franklin’s jumper gave St. Catharine a three-point lead at 93-90, then Bruce Reed went to the line cutting the advantage back down to one. Reed then blocked the next attempt by St. Catherine which then resulted in Elisha Justice being fouled and sent to the line with an opportunity to win the game. Justice made both free throws and the opposition was unable to respond before time was called on the game. Chris Cantino lead the Bears with rebounds coming up with 15 whilst also adding 19 points whilst Keala King and Reed contributed with 23 and 23 points respectively.
Pikeville won’t return to action until 7 p.m. on Dec. 13 playing against Clearwater Christian at the East Ky. Expo Center.
By: Dean Johnson