Box Score

PIKEVILLE, Ky. – It was a regular season to remember for the No. 2 University of Pikeville men's basketball team after its 95-77 win against No. 23 St. Catharine (Ky.) gave it the most regular-season wins in program history with 27 and broke the record for most Mid-South Conference wins with 17.

Pikeville (27-2, 17-1 MSC) used 36 points from Bruce Reed and 19 points and five assists from Josh Whitaker to overwhelm the Patriots (17-11, 10-8 MSC) in a game that it never trailed. Chris Cantino and John Nunnally joined them in double figures with 15 and 10 points, respectively, as the Bears improved to 19-0 at home and improved their home winning streak to 22 games.

Making the win even sweeter was the fact it was senior day as the Bears held a pregame ceremony for Reed, Cantino, Whitaker Elisha Justice, Keala King and Devante McClung.

UPIKE outshot St. Catharine 52.1 to 41.5 percent from the field and had 24 assists with just 15 turnovers, which were both important as the Patriots outrebounded it 45-35. The Patriots also struggled taking care of the basketball with 23 turnovers.


Raymon Austin paced St. Catharine with 27 points and seven rebounds in the paint, while William Tolefree added 15 points and seven rebounds.

Tolefree kept the Patriots close with a pair of free throws to make it an 11-11 tie six minutes in, but Pikeville took off on a 14-2 run highlighted by a three and two buckets from Whitaker to gain control of the game for good.

The deficit never returned to single digits as the Bears took a 51-25 lead into halftime and reached a largest second-half lead of 28 points on a layup from Reed with 18:07 left to play. St. Catharine trimmed the lead to 16 twice, but the combination of Cantino and Reed in the post kept UPIKE in front.

Pikeville advances to the postseason where it will be the No. 1 seed at the Mid-South Conference Tournament in Lebanon, Tenn. The Bears are scheduled to open play against No. 8-seed Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) at 3 p.m. ET on Thursday.