Pikeville, KY – Career nights from Austin Hall and Steven Fitzgerald give the Patriots their first road win of the season. UC took down the University of Pikeville Bears 79-69 on Thursday night at UPike Gym, bringing them to 8-2 on the year and 2-2 in MSC play.
 
Hall scored a career-high 20 points on the night hitting four threes and going 7-11 from the field. The senior added seven rebounds, three assists and a steal to his line as well. Fitzgerald had a memorable game as well scoring a team-high 22 points while grabbing nine rebounds. This put the Somerset, KY native over the 500 rebound mark over his time as a Patriot and he becomes the 17^th player in program history to score over 1,000 points with 500 rebounds.
 
Matt Cromer was the final Patriot in double digits on Thursday, scoring 12 points. Brady Bell set a new season-high making three threes for nine points while Jadrian Flores netted eight points respectively.
 
The Bears opened up the game with a 7-2 lead over the first three minutes of play. A Lamar Harris Jr. bucket followed by a steal and basket out of Cromer brought the score to 6-7 with 16:28 left in the half. Both teams traded baskets over the next three minutes with Fitzgerald, Flores, and Hall all hitting their first shots of the night. Cumberlands took the 19-17 lead from Hall's first triple of the night with 12:14 left on the clock.
 
Pikeville responded with a 12-3 run of their own making it 29-22 with 6:30 remaining. The final six minutes was all UC as they outscored the Bears 20-5. Hall started the run with a pair of free throws before Fitzgerald, Flores, and Cromer hit layups on straight possessions. Another bucket in the paint from Fitzgerald and two free throws from Flores evened the score at 34-34 before Bell hit his first three of the night. UC scored five points in the final minute off of a strong finish from Fitzgerald and another Bell triple to take the 42-34 lead into the half.
 
UPike opened the second half of play with a layup before Isaiah Payton hit his first and only three of the game. Cromer snagged a defensive rebound the next trip down the court leading to a layup to give UC an 11 point advantage. The Bears went on a 9-2 run with 14:33 remaining to make it a four point game. A Hall three stopped the run and increased UC's lead back to seven. Hall continued to make plays on both sides of the ball as he got a steal that led to a Fitzgerald and-one. Kamari Kenemore scored his first bucket of the game on a nice finish in the paint to make it a 57-45 game with just over 12 minutes in regulation.
 
Bell hit his third shot from beyond the arc in response to a pair of made free throws from the Bears in the following two trips down the floor. Four more Pikeville free throws accompanied by a jumper cut the lead to seven with under ten minutes to play. Hall stepped up once again hitting a fade away jumper and another three on consecutive UC possessions to increase the lead back to double digits. Both teams traded baskets over the remaining eight minutes of play, with UC's lead never dropping below nine. Austin Hall scored his 20^th point of the night from another jumper as Cromer knocked down UC's final point of the night from the foul line. The buzzer sounded and UC took the game 79-69.
 
The Patriots will have a rest day before playing the Bears of Shawnee State University on Saturday. Game time is set for 3 PM ET in the Burg on Randy Vernon Court.
 
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