PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- If it wasn't for Jackson Hussey, the University of Pikeville men's basketball team might have seen its 28-game home winning streak come to an end.
The point guard tallied season highs of 17 points and 13 rebounds to help the second-ranked Bears hold off a feisty 25th-ranked Cumberlands team 77-75 on Thursday in the East Ky. Expo Center.
Hussey, who averages just under four rebounds per contest, had eight boards at halftime, helping UPIKE finish with a 37-32 lead on the glass. Macari Brooks paced the Bears with 20 points, while Hussey, K.K. Simmons with 17 and Kenny Manigault with 12 joined him in double figures.
The teams hit the same amount of field goals, including three 3-pointers each, but UPIKE finished two shots better from the free-throw line, hitting 16 freebies. While the totals were the same, the Bears shot a better percentage from the field at 53.7 to 44.6 percent.
Cumberlands' Tony Bradley led all scorers with 23 points, while Jessie Pernell and Josh Caldwell chipped in with 13 each. Taylor Gover, a dangerous outside shooter, went 0-for-4 from deep and 1-for-6 overall from the field to finish with just four points.
UPIKE (8-1, 4-1 MSC) had a great start, hitting seven of its first eight shots to take a 15-5 lead before going on to lead by as many as 15 points in the first half. The lead was still 15 with 11:33 to play in the second half, but the Patriots started to get Pernell involved, who scored all 13 of his points in the final 20 minutes.
With continuous drives to the basket, Cumberlands had trimmed the UPIKE lead to just two points with two minutes to play. In that span was a 13-4 run for the Patriots of which Pernell had seven of the points.
Caldwell eventually tied things up at 73 with a minute left on a layup, but Brooks answered with a huge jumper to go back up by two. Then it was Pernell who evened the score again before Brooks missed a close-range shot out of a timeout.
Cumberlands (9-3, 3-2 MSC) had the ball with less than 10 seconds on the clock, but Pernell's shot missed and Colt Chapman was able to hunt down the rebound and get a pass out to Brooks who was fouled just past midcourt. Brooks made both of the ensuing free throws and the Patriots were unable to get a shot off with 0.6 seconds on the clock.
UPIKE will have a few days off before returning to the East Ky. Expo Center at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday against Ohio Mid-Western.
