Pikeville, KY – The 19^th-ranked UC men's basketball team was unable to convert a last-second opportunity as they fell to 16^th-ranked Pikeville 64-63 Saturday afternoon. With the win the Bears improve to 15-3 overall and 2-1 against the MSC, while the Patriots drop to 13-5 and 0-3 in conference play.

Pikeville jumped out to a 9-4 lead over the first three minutes of play. On the next Patriots possession Caleb Taylor grabbed an offensive rebound and put in back to cut the deficit to three points.  Just over a minute later Taylor and Jahi Hinson hit back-to-back field goals cutting the deficit to 12-10 with 15:00 remaining.  From that point, the Bears went on a 15-2 run; over the course of ten minutes to take a 27-12 lead. Cumberlands battled back outscoring Pikeville 12-5, including six points from Hinson, over the final five minutes of the first half to cut the deficit to 32-24 at the break.

The Patriots opened the second half scoring ten unanswered points to take a 34-32 lead with 17:27 remaining.  Jordan Griggs hit a three-pointer to start the half and the run was capped off by Malik Colvin-Seldon converting an old-fashioned three-point play.  The game saw six lead changes over the next four minutes until Travon Labranche hit three straight points to put UC in front 44-40 with 12:57 left.  The Patriots led by as many as five points over the next four minutes until Pikeville went on an 11-4 run to take a 57-54 lead with 6:06 remaining.  Hinson hit a pair of field goals coupled with a Colvin-Seldon jumper put UC back in front 60-59.  The lead was short lived as Jayvian Delacruz sank back-to-back buckets to put Pikeville in front 64-60 with 16 seconds remaining. On the next Patriots possession Lebranche nailed a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 64-63 with four seconds remaining. Hinson would steal the ensuing throw-in however the Patriots were unable to get a shot off as Chase Parsley knocked the ball away for the 64-63 final.

Taylor led the way for the Patriots with a career-high 17 rebounds.  Hinson finished with a game-high 21 points, while Colvin-Seldon added 14 points.  Lebranche chipped in 11 points, including a pair of three-pointers, as Nnamdi Van Dulm grabbed seven boards.

UC returns to action Thursday, January 17, as they host Georgetown in their MSC home opener at 8 p.m. Live video is available here, while live stats will be available here.

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