PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- It was an overtime to forget for Shawnee State, being outscored 21-9 by third-ranked University of Pikeville for a 96-84 loss on Saturday in Waller Gymnasium.
Christian Leach came up huge for UPIKE, pulling down a season-high 17 rebounds to go along with 15 points, while Macari Brooks added a season-high 34 points, including a 12-of-12 showing from the stripe. K.K. Simmons chipped in with 27 points, including four 3-pointers.
Andrew Bendolph paced Shawnee State with 21 points and Devon Carter added 16, but SSU was outshot 46.9 to 40 percent from the field, hurting it despite leading the game on the backboards 45-37.
Kenny Manigault, UPIKE's second leading scorer, was limited to just five points while playing just 17 minutes due to foul trouble.
UPIKE (25-2, 12-2 MSC) led by eight with three minutes to play at 75-67, but a 6-0 Shawnee State run made it a two-point game with 1:02 on the clock.
Simmons was sent to the line where he missed both, allowing Carter to make two on the other end to tie the game with 13 seconds left. Simmons' three at the buzzer was partially blocked, sending the game into overtime.
Leach gave Pikeville a 78-77 lead with a tough layup early in the extra period, but Carter continued to be a hero for Shawnee State, burying a three while falling down to go up by two with 2:58 left.
Then it was Brooks being a hero for UPIKE as he made two free throws to tie the game at 80, then following a turnover, slammed home a dunk and was fouled for a 3-point play. Brooks wasn't done, adding two more free throws and Leach made a layup to make it 87-80 with 1:44 on the clock.
It ended up being a crushing 13-0 run for UPIKE over two minutes to turn an 80-78 deficit into a 91-80 lead with 59 seconds remaining. Moffatt added a three late for SSU, but the damage was already done by Pikeville.
Starting off with a lob to Moffatt, things went right for Shawnee State (9-16, 3-10 MSC) from the get go, leading 15-4 through the first six minutes.
Brooks gave UPIKE a lift with its first 3-pointer at the 13:04 mark to make it 15-9, but a 6-2 SSU run followed to make it a 10-point game before Simmons buried a three as well to get back within seven.
Soon after, Brooks went to the rack for a fancy layup to cut the deficit to six and Simmons made two free throws to make it 25-21 with 7:18 left in the half. Continuing to chip away at the deficit, Leach came up with a big rip at half court that he took in for an easy bucket.
Shawnee State burned a timeout as its once 11-point lead was down to two. On UPIKE's next trip, Trey Rakes drew a foul and made both shots of a bonus situation to knot the score at 25, tying the score for the first time since it was 2-2.
Simmons didn't waste any time giving Pikeville its first lead as he followed an SSU turnover with a three from the corner. Colt Chapman had a chance to extend it, but missed two free throws, allowing a three from Elliott knot things back up at 28.
After fighting back, UPIKE went back down by five as Bendolph got loose for a layup and Carter and Elliott hit two straight threes to make it 36-31 with 2:35 left in the half. Trouble continued as Carter added another three and Bendolph made two shots from the line to lead by 10.
UPIKE's final point of the half was a free throw from Chapman as Shawnee State went into the break with a 41-32 lead.
All of Shawnee State's work in the first 20 minutes was nearly erased one minute into the second half as Pikeville went on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to two.
After falling behind 45-41, Pikeville eventually got back on top with a 5-0 run that ended with another Simmons three. Two layups by Brooks and a three from Jackson Hussey later, UPIKE had its biggest lead yet at 53-47 with 12:36 on the clock.
It took Shawnee State five minutes to get any closer as a tough bank shot from Moffatt got his team back within three at 58-55. That didn't last long though as Pikeville used a 5-0 run to take an eight-point lead when Simmons completed an old-fashioned 3-point play.
Four times late in the game Shawnee State trimmed the lead to four points but a UPIKE player was there with an answer. While leading 69-65, Trey Rakes buried his first three of the game to go back up by seven with 3:48 on the clock.
Over the next two minutes Shawnee State got back in the game, outscoring Pikeville 8-3 to trail by just two at 75-73 with 1:02 to play.
Up next is an important Mid-South Conference road trip to No. 8 Georgetown at 8 p.m. ET on Monday.
