MONTGOMERY, W.Va. – Campbellsville University was unable to recover from a 10-2 run midway in the second half, as West Virginia Tech pulled way for a 79-68 non-conference win Saturday.

The Tigers led most of the first 28 minutes of play until the Golden Bears' second-half push.

Campbellsville led by three, 49-46, at the 13 minute mark of the second half when the Golden Bears scored 10 straight to claim its largest lead of the game so far, 56-49. Eric Gaines attempted to stop the flood gates with a jumper, 56-51, but WVU Tech scored six more before Campbellsville found the basket again. The near six-minute run pushed Tech in front by 11 points, 62-52 with seven minutes to play.

The Tigers pulled with in eight points, but Tech stretched its lead to as many as 17 in the final minutes, 75-58, before closing the game by hitting 4-of-5 free throws.

CU started the game with a 5-4 lead after a Miles Rice 3-pointer. The freshman guard finished with 14 points, including 4-of-4 from 3-point range. After WVU Tech claimed a brief 8-5 lead, Rice hit two more 3s to regain the lead, 11-8. Elliot Young followed with a 3 to extend Campbellsville's lead to six points, 14-8, the Tigers' largest lead of the night.

Brandon Burgraff hit a 3 with 11:30 to play in the first half after a Young offensive foul, cutting the Tigers' lead to a point, 18-17. The Golden Bears pulled within a point four more times before regaining a brief lead, 27-26, on a pair of Stephen Coles free throws with 5:14 to play in the half.

A'Darius Pegues put CU back in front, 30-29, with an offensive put-back with 3:13 to play. The Tigers entered halftime up, 34-31.

West Virginia Tech tied the game twice in the first three minutes of the second half, but 3s by Rice and Darius Clement helped push Campbellsville's cushion back to six points, 42-36, with 16:38 remaining before Tech took off.

Gaines led CU with 15 points, while Rice had 14, Pegues 12 and Kadeem Thornton scored 10. Thornton led CU with eight rebounds.

Jaren Marino scored 23 to lead the Golden Bears on 10-of-12 shooting from the floor. Coles finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Burgraff had 16 and Eddie Gordon scored 11.


Campbellsville (8-10) will return home Thursday, Jan. 30 to host Lindsey Wilson College in Mid-South Conference action at 8 p.m. ET in Powell Athletic Center.