Box Score Pikeville, KY – Cumberlands jumped out to a fast start however it wasn't enough as the Patriots fell to Pikeville 70-68 Monday night at the Appalachian Wireless Arena. With the win the Bears improve to 8-6 overall and 2-5 in MSC play, while the Patriots move to 9-6 overall and 3-4 in conference play.

Abbi Douglas led UC with 18 points, seven rebounds, and three steals, while Kassie Monday chipped in 14 points, five assists, four assists and four rebounds.  Destiny Haworth added 12 points as Channing Lewis grabbed a team-high ten rebounds, for the third time this season, to go along with eight points.  Lillie Hall went 4-7 from the field and finished with nine points in the game.

Both teams struggled to get their offensive going, however, Cumberlands grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds, which led to a Monday layup to take the early lead. The Patriots added a pair of transition layups from Douglas and Lewis to extend the lead to 7-2 with 6:00 remaining.  Monday converted a pair of triples to push the lead to 13-8 with 2:22 left.  UC  continued to push the ball into the paint as Douglas and Lewis each added a layup, before the Bears converted a layup in the closing seconds to give Cumberlands a 17-15 edge after the first quarter.

UPike added the game at 17-17, however an offensive rebound by Lewis led to a Destiny Haworth three-pointer to put the Patriots back in front a minute into the second quarter.  UPike went on a 9-2 run, that spanned five minutes, before Haworth sank a pair from the charity stripe to cut the deficit to 26-24 with 4:02 remaining. The Patriots continued their offensive intensity with an 8-2 to close out the first half, including a layup from Monday to put the Patriots back in front 27-26 and a three-pointer from Haworth as UC took a 32-28 edge into the break.

Douglas came out strong in the third quarter with consecutive buckets for the Patriots in the first minute extending the lead to 36-30.  A minute later, Lillie Hall banked in a three-pointer and on the ensuing possession Monday intercepted a pass, which lead to a Haworth layup giving UC a 41-34 advantage with 7:11 remaining.  The two teams traded baskets until Lewis hit from long range to push the lead to 46-39. A couple minutes later Cumberlands went on a 6-3 to give UC a 52-44 advantage with just over a minute remaining.  In the closing seconds of the period Monday found Douglas in the paint for a layup to give the Patriots a 54-46 lead into the fourth quarter.

Pikeville opened the quarter with five straight points, however, Douglas responded hitting from behind-the-arc to make it 57-51 with 8:35 remaining.  The Bears scored five unanswered points, before the Patriots went on a 6-2 run, including four points from Hall to push the lead to 63-58 midway through the fourth quarter.  Pikeville went on a 9-3 run to take a 68-66 lead with 2:01 remaining.  Haworth pulled up with a 15-foot jumper for the equalizer with 1:31 remaining.  Pikeville added a pair of free throws to take a 70-68 lead with 25 seconds remaining.  UC had a couple chances but couldn't convert for the 70-68 final.

The Patriots will return home Thursday to host Freed-Hardeman in their first home game of 2022 portion of their schedule.  Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. with live video available here and live stats available here.

For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics, please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter- @UC_Patriots and @UCPatsGameday, Instagram- @UCPatriots, YouTube- Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.