COLUMBIA, Ky. -- Any road game in the Mid-South Conference is a tough test, and Saturday's contest against Lindsey Wilson was a perfect example of that as the Blue Raiders upset Pikeville, 88-78.

UPIKE was in foul trouble almost immediately and it greatly hindered the Bears' ability to get much momentum going at all. Pikeville held a 21-12 lead at the eight-minute mark of the first half, but even then the foul trouble began.

Stanley Perrin got two fouls in 12 seconds to restrict him to the bench. He later picked up another two and sat with four fouls in just four minutes. Meanwhile, Jayvian Delacruz picked up three fouls in the first half as well, which limited him offensively and defensively. However, it just snowballed for the Bears as Xaviar Gaona (three) and Jovontae Carleton (two) each received multiple first half fouls.

With all these issues, it was basically up to Luke Layhew to lead the offense, which he did about as well as he could by scoring 14 first-half points. Layhew picked up another double-double in the game. Carleton also did the best he could while being careful with two fouls, scoring nine points before halftime, when Lindsey Wilson led with a 38-36 lead.

The second half is when things got tough for the Bears coaching staff, as three Bears were assessed technical fouls in the first five mintues. The first of which fouled out Delacruz with over 18 minutes to go. The Bears' spark plug was held to three points in 14 minutes. Eighteen seconds later, Chase Parsley picked up a technical. All those free throws helped start a 13-0 run for the Blue Raiders that essentially put things out of reach for the Bears.

However, UPIKE kept fighting until the end, getting the LWC lead down to just six with over two minutes left. But the Blue Raiders found a strong enough mix of free throws and defense to see the lead into the final whistle. UPIKE now sits at 16-4, 3-2 MSC before heading to Campbellsville on Thursday to face the No. 10 Tigers at 8 p.m.

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