CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Campbellsville could not overcome a big first-half run by No. 1 University of Pikeville and lost its first game in Powell Athletic Center in almost two years, 81-67.
Coach Comments
No. 21 Campbellsville falls to 16-5 overall and 3-4 inside Mid-South Conference. Its last loss at home came in the regular season home finale on Feb. 24, 2014 against Lindenwood University-Belleville, 79-76.
Pikeville improves to 17-2 and with No. 2 Georgetown losing to Lindsey Wilson College today, the Bears are the front runner in the Mid-South Conference at 5-1.
Hagen Tyler scored the game's opening bucket with a 3 but UPIKE quickly regained the early lead, 6-5 at the 17:37 mark in the opening half.
The Bears pushed their margin to as many as eight points but Campbellsville went on a 9-0 run capped by a
Sekou Harris bucket and regained a 21-20 lead with 9:25 left.
UPIKE then got hot and Campbellsville went cold. The Bears ended the final 9:25 on a 26-9 run, hitting 10-of-17 shots and all four free throws, to take a 46-30 lead at halftime.
During that big run, K.K. Simmons scored 11 points and Colt Chapman pitched in six to lead the Bears. Simmons led all scorers with 19 points and Chapman finished right behind him with 18. Marcari Brooks also scored above his season average with 17 points.
In that critical first half UPIKE shot 57.6 percent (19-of-33), while Campbellsville was the opposite, hitting 11-of-32 (34.4 percent).
Campbellsville was able to make a little noise in the second half by cutting the lead to 10 points twice (54-44 and 57-47) with 14:05 left but Pikeville rallied and took control.
Christian Leach sparked the Bears with five straight points then Colt Chapman hit the boards hard and overmatched Campbellsville in the paint. Chapman picked up three of his five offensive rebounds and capitalized on all three to spark a 12-3 run giving the Bears a 69-50 lead – a lead from which the Tigers were unable to recover. Chapman finished with a game-high nine rebounds for UPIKE.
Harris led Campbellsville with 16 points and seven assists but also turned the ball over a season-high seven times.
Ron Scott and
Rob Robinson both finished with 10 points to round out CU's double-figure scoring.
The Tigers struggled overall from the floor, hitting 35.5 percent (22-of-62) and only 7-of-30 from 3-point land. Tyler, who ranks No. 1 in the NAIA in 3-point shooting, nailed his first triple but finished hitting only 2-of-12 from beyond the arc.
Pikeville finished hitting 48 percent from the floor and 50 percent (5-of-10) from the arc.
Campbellsville will now host St. Catharine College on Thursday, Jan. 21 with the men's and women's doubleheader starting at 6 p.m. ET. Campbellsville is partnering with Sports Reach and Audience 1 Sports for the annual ShoePer Bowl shoe drive.
