PIKEVILLE, Ky. ---- In a battle of undefeated teams, the No. 18 Life University men's basketball team came up short of the comeback to No. 5 Pikeville 84-77 Thursday night in the Mid-South Conference opener for both teams.
NOTES
• Despite trailing by 16 at the half, Life U outscored Pikeville 50-41 in the second half. Life U dropped to 9-1 (0-1) on the year as Pikeville improved to 11-0 (1-0).
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
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Cam Horton led the Running Eagles offensively with 16 points. He added five rebounds and four assists.
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Connor Gamble did not miss a shot as he was 5-for-5 from the field and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. He finished with 15 points.
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Antwan Maxwell and
Tory Ferguson each finished with 12 as Joyner added 11 and eight rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Five minutes into the game, Life U 10-8 lead after a pair of free-throws from Joyner.
• Pikeville responded to take the lead, but a pair of free-throws from Horton again tied the game at 16 with 11:41 in the half.
• Pikeville went on an 8-0 run over the next three minutes to lead 24-16. A pair of threes from Ferguson cut the lead to four, 26-22, however Pikeville was able to keep up the offensive pressure.
• Pikeville finished the first half on a 12-1 run as they lead 43-27 at the break.
• Pikeville maintained the double-digit lead throughout the second half, as the Bears led by as many as 21, 73-52, with 6:19 remaining in the game.
• Life U chipped away at the lead, as Gamble connected from deep twice to cut the lead to nine, 81-72 with 57 seconds on the clock.
• Despite finishing the game on a 5-3 run, the first half deficit proved to be too much as Pikeville finished ahead 84-77.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Life U finished 25-for-56 from the field, 44.6%, while Pikeville shot 29-for-56, 51.8%.
• Life U shot 20-for-25, 80%, from the free-throw line as Pikeville finished 20-for-31, 64.5%.
• Life U scored 24 points in the paint and scored 29 points off the bench.
UP NEXT
• The men's basketball team will return to action on Saturday, December 7, as they continue Mid-South Conference play and travel to Portsmouth, Ohio to face (RV) Shawnee State University at 4 PM.
