Box Score

PIKEVILLE, Ky. – Some nights everything seems to go right, and Thursday fit the bill for the third-ranked University of Pikeville men's basketball team, topping Bluefield (Va.) 97-64 at the East Ky. Exposition Center.

John Nunnally came off the bench to score a season-high 21 points behind his best output of the year from behind the arc with five threes. UPIKE outshot the Rams 57.4 to 36.8 percent from the field and dominated the backboards 53-26.

Knocking down 11-of-26 (42.3%) of its threes, Pikeville made itself pretty hard to beat, even after hitting just 8-of-17 free-throw attempts. The Bears were all over the court on defense, leading to the Rams hitting just four threes in 18 attempts.

Nunnally, who also had five rebounds, was backed up by Keala King with 18 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals. Chris Cantino added 15 points, but was one rebound shy of tallying his 11th double-double of the season.

Bluefield got 13 points from Kearston Marion and 12 from Josh Nesbit as its only players in double figures. Nesbit also grabbed a team-best six rebounds.

This wasn't a case of total domination as Bluefield was down by just four at 27-23 after Marion's layup with five minutes left in the first half. But after an 8-2 Bear run that included threes from Josh Whitaker and King, UPIKE was up by 10 and the deficit never got sent back into single digits.

Up 41-29 at halftime, UPIKE exploded for another 8-2 run to start the second half and had a 21-point lead in less than four minutes after back-to-back threes by Nunnally. Before 10 minutes were gone, a layup by Kenny Manigault increased the lead to 30 at 70-40.

Thirty-five points was as large as the lead would swell on a jumper from reserve Trey Rakes in the final two minutes.

The Bears will stay home this weekend, hosting Life (Ga.) at 4 p.m. ET at the East Ky. Exposition Center. The game is a rematch from one of the Bears' two losses this season, taking on a Life team that received votes in the latest NAIA Coaches' Top-25 Poll.