Lebanon, TN – The University of Pikeville men's basketball team lost to the Cumberland University Phoenix on the road Monday night, 97-75. The Bears were led by Taevon Horton, who scored 16 points on 6-11 shooting while Kevin Bishop II went 7-11 from the field for 15 points. Horton, Bishop II, and Malik Malone all led the team with five rebounds while Korbin Spencer led the team with three assists. After the loss, UPIKE drops to 15-11 overall and 8-10 in the Mid-South Conference. They return to action on Thursday at Freed-Hardeman University.

How It Happened
The Phoenix grabbed an early 13-5 lead before the Bears used a quick 6-0 run to cut the lead to 13-11. Bishop II scored all six points during the stretch. The Phoenix responded with a 12-0 push to give themselves a 25-11 advantage with 10:22 left in the first half.

UPIKE would fight back over the next few minutes with a 12-2 flurry to make it 27-23 with Jacob Brown's five points leading the way. Cumberland answered the call though and extended their lead to 10 on a few occasions before the end of the first half where they took a 42-32 lead into the locker room. The Bears shot 46.4% from the field in the first half but couldn't stop the red-hot shooting of the Phoenix, who shot 64% in the first half and 60% from beyond the arc.

Their lead increased to 18 in the second half as their great shooting continued. Malone provided a spark with back-to-back dunks as UPIKE tried to rally back, cutting the lead to 12 at 68-56 with 9:46 remaining but it wasn't enough. The Phoenix shot 56.5% from the field and 57.1% from three, knocking down 16 three-pointers in the game in their eventual 97-75 victory.

What's Up Next
The Bears will look to finish the regular season on a high note later this week when they travel to Freed-Hardeman University for a 9:00 p.m. ET game with the Lions on Thursday night. They dropped their first matchup with the Lions, 85-78 in Pikeville on Jan. 31.

They will then play Bethel University for the first time this season in their final regular-season game on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. ET.