Box Score

PIKEVILLE, Ky. – CU Tiger Basketball could not complete the comeback down the stretch and lost its third straight game, as No. 2 University of Pikeville held off the pesky Tigers, winning, 67-64.

 

In the previous nine meetings, six of the games at Pikeville had been decided by one possession, and it wouldn't be a Pikeville-Campbellsville game without it coming down to the end.

 

Campbellsville (14-13, 9-8 MSC) held Pikeville (26-2, 16-1 MSC) to 27 points in the second half but could not hold the Bears down. It was the second-lowest Pikeville has scored in a half this season, as the Bears scored just 21 in the first half against the University of the Cumberlands on Jan. 18.

"We played great defensively in the second half only giving up 27 points," said CU Head Coach Keith Adkins. "We want to keep the games in the 60s, and we did, and had a chance down the stretch but came up just short."

 

Jordan Myers, who loves playing against University of Pikeville after beating the Bears on a last second 3-point basket two of the last three meetings in Powell Athletic Center, hit a clutch 3-pointer and cut the lead down to six points, 55-49, with 9:29 remaining.

 

Campbellsville trimmed the lead down to just one point with 3:12 left, after Myers hit another 3 from the left wing.

 

Pikeville went to the foul line twice in the final minute with a chance to ice the game, but missed the front end of the bonus each time giving Campbellsville a chance down the stretch.

 

Elisha Justice picked the pocket of Darius Clement with 20 seconds remaining leading to a missed runner in the lane by Pikeville's Josh Whitaker. But Kenny Manigault picked up a huge offensive rebound, which led to CU having to foul in desperation and DeMarcus Page used his fifth foul to put Keala King at the line.

 

King missed the front end of the bonus, giving CU a chance in the final 16.3 seconds. Adkins called a timeout to get a offensive set in and he got exactly what he wanted.

 

Miles Rice and Jordan Myers played a two-man game. Rice missed a deep 3-pointer to tie the game. Myers picked up the rebound and his open look was long as time ran out.

 

"For Miles to get the good look he had, he had to go a little deeper than we wanted, but it was still an open shot," said Adkins. "Jordan Myers had a great look at it as well. He used a nice shot fake but missed. I think Pikeville has seen enough of him hitting 3's in the past few years."

 

To say both teams came out cold in the first half would be an understatement. Campbellsville led 4-0 in the first half and Pikeville finally got on the board with a free throw by Keala King at the 15:45 mark.

 

The Tigers led for more than half of the first 20 minutes but Pikeville came alive after Justice hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 20 with 7:42 remaining.

 

UPike then went on a 20-12 run to close out the first half and never trailed again. Josh Whitaker led the Bears, as he hit three of his four total 3-pointers in the first half.

 

Darius Clement kept the Tigers in the game, as Pikeville finished the first half strong. Clement hit two 3-pointers late in the first half to answer Pikeville baskets at the 5:45 and 4:39 mark.

 

Pikeville's roster brought in nine players standing over 6-foot-5 inches and Campbellsville only had three over that mark. The length from the Bears gave CU trouble and especially Eric Gaines. The Tigers' leading scorer at 15.3 points a game scored only five points, all coming in the second half.

 

Josh Whitaker picked up right where he left off in the first half. The senior from Hazard, Ky., hit his fourth 3-pointer to put Pikeville up to its biggest lead at 11 points, 43-32, coming out of half time. He finished with a game-high 19 points on 6-for-13 overall and 4-for-10 from behind the arc.

 

The Tigers answered with a 3-pointer of their own, as Gaines hit an open Myers in the left wing to cut the lead back down to 46-40 with 15:22 left.

Pikeville struggled down the stretch and the turnovers started to mount up. The Bears turned the ball over six times in six minutes to aid the Tigers' comeback.

 

A'Darius Pegues stepped up for CU with Chris Catino not playing due to an ejection in the Bears previous game. The 6-foot-10 center from Fayetteville, N.C., went to work against the Bears, finishing with 15 points, which bested his previous career-high of 14 points that was against Pikeville on Nov. 23.

 

But Myers and Pegues were not enough down the stretch for Campbellsville, as the MSC Regular Season Champions prevailed.

 

Pikeville shot 8-for-14 from the free throw line in the first half and CU only shot 3-for-3, but the foul shooting evened out. CU finished shooting 14-for-17 (70 percent) and Pikeville shot 12-for-21 (57 percent)

The difference in the game was the CU turnovers. Pikeville forced 15 turnovers and picked up 10 steals, scoring 22 points off those chances.


CU was led by Pegues (15), Rice (13) and Myers (11). Pegues also led the Tigers with eight rebounds. Gaines and Rice dished out four assists apiece to lead Campbellsville.

With a win Thursday, Campbellsville would have moved into a tie for third-place in the Mid-South Conference and only a half game out of second, as Georgetown College and St. Catharine College both lost. Now, the Tigers sit tied for fifth in the MSC with Rio Grande at 9-8. CU and Rio are a halfgame behind University of the Cumberlands, who is now fourth, and one game behind St. Catharine College.

Campbellsville will close its regular season schedule Saturday, March 1, as the Tigers travel to Bluefield College for a 4 p.m. EST matchup with the Rams. You can follow the action live on 88.7 FM in Campbellsville and WLCUFM.com. The Tigers have a chance to finish as high as third in the MSC or as low as sixth, depending on how the day plays out around the conference.

 

To follow Tiger Basketball throughout the rest of the 2014 season, check them out behind the scene on @CUTigersHoops and @CvilleTigers.