Box Score PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- As the final buzzer sounded in the Eastern Kentucky Expo Center Thursday night,
Shawn Savage's tightly guarded, mid-court 3-pointer bounced around the rim and off, as Campbellsville University nearly pulled off an upset at No. 24 Pikeville College. However, it was the Bears that walked away victorious, 81-79, in the WYMT Appalachian Wireless Game of the Week.
For the second time this season, Campbellsville saw a 12-point lead slip away to Pikeville. But unlike the Jan. 6 meeting in CU's Powell Athletic Center, the Tigers fought to the end, cutting the score to a point, 80-79, with five seconds to play.
"I don't like loses, but I can live with this one. I thought we really competed and played hard. We made good decisions on the offensive end. With a made shot here or there, this one's different," CU head coach Keith Adkins said. "This is completely different than Saturday (83-74 loss to West Virginia Tech). If we'd played like this Saturday, we'd win by 20 points."
Pikeville took an early 6-0 lead and led by as many as eight before the Tigers took their first lead, 17-16, with 9:06 to play in the first half. The Bears responded with another 6-0 run, capped by a dunk from Quincy Hankins-Cole, but the fastbreak jam was more of a momentum builder for the Tigers than the Bears. CU senior JaVaughn Espritt scored six unanswered points, including a dunk of his own, to even the score 23-23. He led CU with a career-high 26 points, including 15 in the first half, and collected 12 rebounds for his Mid-South Conference leading 13th double-double.
"He's really playing well. I hope the other coaches in this league see that and reward this kid with an All-Conference opportunity," Adkins said. "He's had a good year and a half with us, but the second half of this year has really been good. He's not a true low post guy, but that's what we've asked him to do and he's handled it well."
After Espritt knotted the score for the first time since the opening tip, the score evened up twice more in the first half, 27-27 and 33-33 when Ryan Whitaker hit a 3 for Pikeville to answer back-to-back treys from Adrian Whelan and Shawn Savage.
The Tigers took a 40-35 lead into the half as Caleb Harris, who scored 22 in the game, gave CU some late distance and Adrian Whelan added to it with a pair of free throws in the final second to give him 10 points entering the break.
"Scouting reports sometimes will leave a guy out, but Adrian's the type of guy that if you forget about him, he can kill you. He came out and banged out a couple of 3s," Adkins said.
The Tigers stretched their lead to 12 points, 49-37, early in the second half and maintained a lead of at least five until Trevor Setty drained a 3 with a little more than 11 minutes to play. Setty's 3 pulled the game within a possession, 55-53. CU continued to grasp the advantage a little longer until Setty and Whitaker hit back-to-back baskets to tie for the first time in the second half, 60-60, with eight minutes to play.
Pikeville took a 62-61 lead on a pair of free throws from Vance Cooksey to regain the lead after 20 minutes of CU leading. Justin Hicks followed with a 3 and Pikeville was on a roll. The Bears led by as many as eight down the stretch, but CU was not going to fold.
Sending the Bears to the line, CU managed to chip Pikeville down within three, 80-77, on a Shawn Savage 3 with nine seconds to play. Savage finished with 15 points in the game to pull closer to his 1,000-point career mark. An offensive foul by Cooksey gave CU the ball back and Espritt pulled the Tigers within a point, 80-79, with five seconds left before Cooksey set up CU's final shot by hitting 1-of-2 from the charity stripe in the final seconds.
Cooksey finished with 23 points and Hankins-Cole had 22. Hicks and Setty each had 12.
Campbellsville (14-11, 7-7 MSC) will travel to the University of Virginia at Wise (11-12, 6-7 MSC) for a 4 p.m. tip Saturday. The game will be broadcast in Central Kentucky on K-Country 105.7 FM and online at KCountry1057.com.
STAT SUMMARY
Pikeville (81) - Cooksey 23, Hankins-Cole 22, Hicks 12, Setty 12, Whitaker 8, Hines 2, Thornton 2. Totals 28-59 19-27 81.
Tigers (79) - Espritt 26, Harris 22, Savage 15, Whelan 10, Smith 4, Bohm 2. Totals 26-54 22-27 79.
Half-time - Campbellsville 40-35.
Three-point goals - Pikeville 6-21 (Hicks 2, Setty 2), Campbellsville 5-16 (Savage 3, Whelan 2).
Rebounds - Pikeville 30 (Hankins-Cole 10), Campbellsville 34 (Espritt 12).
Assists - Pikeville 12 (Cooksey 6), Campbellsville 3.
Steals - Pikeville 10 (Cooksey 3, Hankins-Cole 3), Campbellsville 6 (Smith 2).
