PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- Free-throw shooting woes ended at just the right time as the 10th-ranked University of Pikeville men's basketball team went 23 of 29 from the stripe to help top Shawnee State 63-57 on Saturday and five head coach Kelly Wells his 250th career win at UPIKE.
Nineteen of the freebies were made in the second half, helping Pikeville overcome a deficit as large as five points with 12 minutes to play. SSU led 57-56 as late as with 1:28 to play, but it didn't score again as Pikeville went 7-8 from the stripe down the stretch.
Jordan Perry tallied a game-best 21 points for UPIKE (19-5, 5-4 MSC) as he matched a season high with three 3s. Michael Lewis added 15 points, nine rebounds and a career-high six blocks, while Trey Rakes joined them in double figures with 11. Only six Bears scored in the game.
Jayllen Carter and Frederick Moore led SSU (7-14, 0-9 MSC) with 18 and 15 points, respectively, and Jacob Daniels collected 12 rebounds.
Shawnee ended up leading the game on the glass 34-32 and outshot UPIKE 40 to 32 percent from the field, but Pikeville made two extra 3s, 14 more free throws and had six less turnovers at 16-10.
HOW IT WENT DOWN
UPIKE had a strong first eight minutes, using 3s from Perry and Trey Rakes to take a 17-7 lead. But over the next three minutes SSU got things rolling, using a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to four at 17-13. From that point on, things started to even up.
After briefly going back up by nine, UPIKE allowed SSU to rattle off a 9-0 run that tied things up at 22 all on a 3 by Bryan Rolfe with 5:01 left until halftime. Six points was Pikeville's largest lead the rest of the half, but that was cut to two in the final seconds before a layup by Lewis made it a 34-30 UPIKE lead at halftime.
In less than three minutes in the second half SSU was able to grab its first lead since it was 2-0 at 39-38. Fast forward a minute later and Marshall Bennett finished an important and-1 play to get within one, then Lewis made a pair of free throws with 8:46 to play to give UPIKE a 47-46 lead.
Neither team led by more than three from the six-minute mark to the final 60 seconds. Shawnee took a 57-56 lead on a Carter jumper with 1:28 to play, but that was it for SSU as it went 0 for 3 from the field the rest of the way. UPIKE made 7 of 8 free throws during that stretch to pull away for the six-point win.
UP NEXT
UPIKE plays at home against Maine Fort Kent at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday in the East Ky. Expo Center.
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