PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- No. 4 UPIKE trailed Cumberland (Tenn.) for nearly all of the first 10 minutes before stepping on the gas to go up by as many as 26 points in a 72-59 win on Saturday in the East Ky. Expo Center.
The win is the Bears' 10th straight overall and 35th straight on their home floor. A chance to add one more win to those totals will come quickly as UPIKE (17-1, 6-1 MSC) hosts Ohio State-Mansfield at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday.
While Macari Brooks led all players with 24 points and six rebounds, he got a big boost from point guard Jackson Hussey with 14 points, five steals, four rebounds and four steals. Hussey committed just two turnovers in more than 30 minutes of action.
K.K. Simmons joined the duo in double figures with 17 points, including a 3-for-8 showing from behind the arc. UPIKE hit 6 of 23 threes overall, but was better from the field shooting 50.8 percent (30 of 59).
The Bulldogs, who shot 46.4 percent from the field and just 15.4 percent from deep, had just one player reach double figures in Josh Wilkerson with 13 points. Three different Cumberland (6-13, 2-5 MSC) players pulled down four boards as both teams finished with 31 rebounds.
In fact, the teams tallied identical numbers of nine offensive boards and 22 on the defensive glass.
At the 9:03 mark of the first half the score was tied 18-18 when DeMario Frazier drove in the paint for two. Fast forward about five minutes and the Bears had built an 11-point lead after a 13-2 run. Simmons ended the run with his first 3-pointer of the game.
The Bulldogs answered with a quick 8-0 run to make it 31-28, but UPIKE scored the final eight points of the half to lead by 11 at the break.
Less than five minutes into the second half the Bears had a 55-34 lead on another Simmons three. Michael Eneh stuck in a layup with 10 minutes to play to tally the game's biggest lead of 26 points.
With the Bears emptying the bench and Cumberland getting hot from the field, the Bulldogs outscored UPIKE 19-4 over the final nine minutes of the game to end up with the final 13-point margin.
