Box Score

PIKEVILLE, Ky. – It's going to be a happy New Year for the third-ranked University of Pikeville men's basketball team as it dunked, rebounded and stole itself to a convincing 123-74 win against Tennessee Temple on Tuesday at UPIKE Gym.

Kenny Manigault, in his first action of the season, brought the house down with a put-back dunk in the second half, Chris Cantino posted a double-double of 15 points and 13 boards and Elisha Justice swiped a season-high nine steals to make things easy for the Bears.

There were plenty of good performances, although Bruce Reed stuck out on offense with a game-high 31 points to go with seven rebounds and a pair of steals. Joining him in double figures were Cantino, Keala King with 13 points, Josh Whitaker with 11 and Hobo McCoy adding 10 off the bench.

UPIKE was lights out, shooting 56.9 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from behind the arc to score the season-high 123 points. It was the highest total since pouring in 145 against Ohio State-Mansfield during the 2010-11 season.

Jordan Brown scored 16 points for the Crusaders to lead them off the bench, while Elliot Johnson added 15. Four rebounds by Hampton Mack and Jullian Butts paced Tennessee Temple as it was outrebounded 49-27 for the game.

The Bears forced 30 giveaways to tally a 42-15 advantage in points off turnovers, while also leading the Crusaders in points in the paint 56-22 and second-chance points 23-4.

There was a total of 53 personal fouls called in the game, leading to a lot of time spent at the free-throw line. The Bears shot 66 percent, hitting 31-of-47, while Tennessee Temple was 22-of-32 from the stripe (68.8 percent).

It couldn't have been a worse start for the Crusaders as they turned it over twice before scoring a point as UPIKE went up 8-0 on a Cantino free throw. The lead reached double figures at 14-3 on a layup from King and stayed that way the rest of the game.

Thirty-three points was the biggest first-half lead for the Bears as Manigault finished an assist from Whitaker. The Bears went into halftime up 64-35 and were hungry for more coming out of the break.

The lead swelled to 42 points with over 15 minutes still to play after a three from Reed at the top of the key, a minute later the Bears' starters left the court to let the bench bring the win home. One of McCoy's two threes gave UPIKE its largest lead of 52 points with 1:47 left. The Bears would add just one Trey Rakes free throw before time expired.

It's back to Mid-South Conference play on Thursday as UPIKE travels to Bluefield (Va.) for an 8 p.m. ET tip. The game marks the first return to MSC play since the Bears opened up 2-0 with wins at St. Catharine (Ky.) and Campbellsville (Ky.).