PIKEVILLE, Ky. – Four players reached double figures as the UPike men's basketball team celebrated Senior Day with a 74-61 win over Bluefield (Va.) College on Saturday afternoon.
 
UPike (19-6 overall, 17-4 in the league) has now won three straight, all of them against AAC competition.
 
The Bears came out strong, scoring 10 of the game's first 12 points. They were split evenly between senior Stanback and sophomore Bradley Bunch, and when Stanback made a free throw with 15:15 left, the lead was 10-2.
 
Bluefield (7-18, 7-14) pulled within four twice, including 12-8 on a basket by junior Donavan Martin, before the Bears went on another run, this won 12-3.
 
Junior Kyonte Thomas had the first five in the stretch, while senior Jeremy Dillon closed it out with two free throws and a layup with 7:37 left to push UPike on top 24-11.
 
The Bears had one more run in them before the break. Junior Wade Pelfrey nailed a three, followed by a pair of Dillon free throws before Stanback finished the 7-0 run to push the lead to 33-15.
 
At the half, the Bears were on top 37-19.
 
UPike opened the second half with five made three-point buckets. The first three came from Dillon, all out of the left corner. Bunch followed and when Thomas nailed one off a dish from sophomore Keian Worrix, the Bears were on top 52-26 with 16:16 left.
 
The lead reached 27 (60-33), while the Rams cut it to 11 (67-56) before the spread settled at 13.
 
Dillon paced UPike with a senior-best 18 points while pulling down six rebounds. Stanback followed with 16 points and seven rebounds.
 
Bunch finished with 15 points, a game-high nine rebounds and five assists, while Thomas tossed in 10.
 
Bluefield had one player in double figures, as sophomore Elijah White scored 23 while handing out five assists.
 
The next game for the Bears will be Wednesday evening, when they host Columbia International (S.C.) University. The game, at the UPike Gym, is the nightcap of two and is slated for a 7:30 p.m. tip.