Pikeville, KY – The University of Pikeville men's basketball team took down University of the Cumberlands Monday night inside the Appalachian Wireless Arena, 83-76. After falling behind by double-digits early on, the Bears clawed back and took complete control of the contest.

Kenyon Duling scored 17 points to lead UPIKE, one point off his season-high against Simmons College back on Nov. 2. Christian Sweazie joined him in double-digits with a season-high 15 points while Jacob Brown and Korbin Spencer chipped in with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Brown also had 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season and third of his UPIKE career. In his second game back with the Bears, Jordan Perry led the team with five assists.

After the win, they improve to 12-3 overall and 5-2 in the Mid-South Conference. Their mark in the conference is good for a tie for second place with Thomas More and Georgetown. They return to action Thursday night against Bethel University at home.

How It Happened
As mentioned, the Bears fell behind by 10 points early on as Cumberlands knocked down a pair of threes to get the action started. With the score at 12-2, UPIKE went to work. They battled back with a 17-4 run to give them a 19-16 advantage. Kevin Bishop II had four points during the stretch.

The Patriots briefly took a 22-21 lead before a pair of Sweazie treys made the score 27-22. The Bears continued to pour it on, leading by as many as 14 before the Patriots settled back into the contest. With the score at 38-24, they used an 8-0 run to cut the lead to just six at 38-32. The game would go into halftime at 40-35 in favor of UPIKE.

The Bears controlled the second half and never surrendered their lead, but Cumberlands would not go away quietly. A JJ Ramey three cut their lead to just three at 67-64 with just over seven minutes to play. However, UPIKE stormed back out to an 11-point advantage after an 8-0 flurry made it 75-64. Duling and Spencer both had three points during the run. The closest Cumberlands would get for the remainder of the game was six as the Bears came away with an 83-76 victory.

Inside The Box Score
This was their first win at home against Cumberlands since the 2018-19 season.

UPIKE shot 52.6% from beyond the arc in the game, their third-best percentage of the season and their best in a conference game this year. Sweazie knocked down half their threes, with five in the game. The Bears shot 47.3% from the field.

What's Up Next
As mentioned, the Bears take on the Bethel University Wildcats on Thursday night at 8:00 p.m. in the Appalachian Wireless Arena. In their lone meeting last season, Bethel bested UPIKE by a score of 97-92.