Portsmouth, OH – UPIKE men's basketball faced off with a red-hot Shawnee State team Thursday night, falling 101-90 to the 6^th ranked Bears.
UPIKE had three players scoring in double figures, with Malcolm Green, Jamir Simpson and Korbin Spencer all dropping 20 points. Simpson recorded his first double-double of the season and a season-high rebound total with 11. Green went 6-10 from the field and an impressive 8-12 from the free throw line. Spencer's contributions came from beyond the arc, hitting 4-8 from deep.

Pikeville shot 19-33 from the field in the first half for a 57.5% clip while going 4-9 for 44% from beyond the arc. Both teams shot exceptionally well in the first, with SSU going 24-36 for 66%. In the second, Shawnee tallied a
53.85% clip from the field while UPIKE hit 50% of their shots. All said, the Bears finished at 35-65 from the floor, hitting 53.8% of shots. UPIKE connected on 11-24 shots from deep while SSU hit 12-24.

The first half saw Shawnee build a lead early but UPIKE was able to remain close behind, tying the game with a Darius Love three pointer at the 15:44 mark. Shawnee State stretched their lead to seven in the next five minutes, remaining ahead for the rest of the period. SSU hit the locker room with a 57-48 lead.

Shawnee State grew their lead to 12 in the first four minutes of the second half, but UPIKE would surge, mounting an 8-3 run spanning two minutes to bring the game within four points with 12 minutes remaining. SSU kept their foot on the gas to remain ahead despite solid shooting from Pikeville, and with under 10 minutes to go – a pair of free throws from Green had the Bears within a possession again.

To end the second half, UPIKE stayed resilient but fell victim to a solid finishing act from the Bears. SSU would secure the 101-90 victory at the buzzer.

 UPIKE men's basketball returns to action on Saturday, February 6^th at home against Thomas More.