PIKEVILLE, Ky. – The University of Pikeville stormed out of the gates after halftime to erase a six-point deficit and pick up a 65-58 win over Dalton State (Ga.) College on Saturday.
 
The win pushed the Bears to 4-0 after the weekend sweep in the UPike Classic. Now, the Bears schedule turns to AAC action beginning Wednesday night.
 
After falling behind 5-0, the Bears scored nine straight points. Grad student Cade Looney got it started with back-to-back layups, followed by a three-point play by junior LA Walker. When junior Keian Worrix nailed a jumper, the Bears led 9-5 with 13:38 left in the half.
 
The Roadrunners, however, responded with seven unanswered of their own. After a jumper by senior Matt Compas, classmate Kevin Henry tossed in a three-point basket and sank two free throws regaining the lead 12-9 with 10:57 left.
 
Dalton State held the lead for the remainder of the half, pushing it to as many as eight before the break. Worrix hit two free throws with two seconds left to set the first-half score at 31-25.
 
The Bears stormed out of the gate in the second half, scoring 20 of the first 24 points. They pulled within one, 35-34, before junior Keynan Cutlip beat the play clock with a three to gain the lead, and when Bunch nailed a triple with 14:15 left, the lead was 40-35.
 
After a Roadrunner timeout, junior David Robinson nailed a jumper before another Bunch three forced another Roadrunner timeout. UPike led 45-35 with 12:16 to play.
 
This time the timeout worked, as Dalton State scored eight straight points. Junior Tyshan Kelly had half of them, and when sophomore Kyoya Sasaki scored, it was a two-point game, 45-43, with nine minutes on the clock.
 
The teams then traded 8-0 runs, with the Roadrunners pulling back within two on Compas free throws with 4:27 left, UPike scored seven of the next nine. When Walker scored with 1:57 left, the lead was 58-51 with 1:57 left.
 
UPike held off its guests thanks to 5-of-6 shooting from the free throw line.
 
Bunch and Looney paced the Bears with 16 points each. Bunch had seven rebounds while Looney pulled five.
 
Worrix had another solid performance, scoring seven times while handing out eight assists, pulling seven rebounds and picking up four steals.
 
The Roadrunners had one player in double figures, as Compas fired in 17. Junior Qualen Pettus had eight points and nine rebounds.
 
The Bears will return to action on Wednesday when they host Milligan (Tenn.) University in a conference doubleheader. The women tip at 5:30 while the men are scheduled at 7:30.