Pikeville, KY – The 21^st-ranked UC men's basketball team had four players in double figures, but it wasn't enough as the Patriots fell to third-ranked Pikeville 93-79, Saturday afternoon at the Expo Center.  With the win the Bears improve to 27-3 overall and 11-3 in conference play, while the Patriots move to 21-8 overall and 8-6 against the MSC.

Pikeville opened the game on an 8-2 run, before back-to-back buckets from Malik Colvin-Seldon and Bernard Samuel cut the deficit to 8-6 four minutes into the first half. The Patriots had a hard time stopping the fourth-ranked offense as the Bears went on a 12-2 run over the next three minutes to extend their lead to 20-8. Cumberlands next five points came from the charity stripe as UC trailed 26-13 with 8:07 remaining.  Eric Duncan made a layup, before Pikeville went on a 14-2 run to take a 40-17 with 4:20 left. The Patriots started to rally ending the first half on a 15-4 run, which included six points from Chance Morton and four from Anthony Eaves, to cut the deficit to 44-32 at the break.

Bernard Samuel hit a three-pointer in the first minute of the second half to bring UC within 11 points.  Duncan netted six straight Patriot points, before a Will Gary field goal cut the deficit to 54-45 with 16:26 remaining.  After Pikeville pushed their lead back to 15 points, Duncan, Taylor Gover, and Eaves back-to-back threes to make it 65-56.  Morton scored eight of UC's next ten points to make it 74-66 with 7:23 remaining. On Cumberlands next possession Colvin-Seldon made a field goal to bring UC within six, but that was the closest they got as Pikeville used a 15-5 run, over the course of four minutes, to extend their lead to 89-73.  The teams traded buckets over the final three minutes for the 93-79 final.

Leading the way for the Patriots was Morton who tallied 21 points and seven rebounds.  Duncan finished with 13 points, while Colvin-Seldon chipped in 12 and Eaves netted 11 points and grabbed five boards.

The Patriots have earned the three-seed in the Mid-South Conference tournament all will face sixth-seed and ninth-ranked Lindsey in the quarterfinals on Friday, March 2, at 4 p.m.  

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