CLEVELAND, Ga – Sophomore guard Keian Worrix matched his season high with 24 points and his career-best nine assists to lead the University of Pikeville to a key AAC road win 73-65 over Truett McConnell University on Saturday.
 
Worrix did so thanks to shooting 14-of-15 from the free throw line and also grabbed five rebounds as the Bears ran their win streak to five straight, all against AAC competition.
 
The teams played a tight first half that saw neither lead by more than three points. Those leads came consecutively. UPike took a 17-14 lead with 9:26 left on back-to-back buckets by sophomore Bradley Bunch.
 
TMU (10-16 overall, 8-14 in the league) responded with a three-point play by EJ Smith and, 3:17 later, a three-point basket by KJ Riley, and it led 20-17 with 6:09 left.
 
Thanks to a tremendous first half by Worrix, who hit all 10 free throw attempts to score 16 points while pulling down four rebounds and handing out two assists, UPike took a 29-27 lead to the break.
 
UPike (21-6, 19-4) scored the first five points of the second half to break that trend as Bunch nailed a three-pointer and then a layup to push the lead to 34-27.
 
TMU led only one time in the second half, when Cainan Wright followed two free throws with a layup to go ahead 38-37 with 13:41 left in the game. But it lasted only 30 seconds, as senior Jeremy Dillon scored inside for the Bears, followed by another Worrix basket, to put UPike on top to stay.
 
Worrix was joined in double digits by Bunch, who had 11 and five rebounds, and Dillon, who finished with 10.
 
Senior Issac Stanback finished with eight points and eight rebounds, to see his string of double-digit scoring games end at 18 games. It was only the second time this season he's failed to score in double figures.
 
Smith led Truett McConnell with 17 points. He was joined by Wright who had 15 off the bench. Raul Arias-Ortega had 13 while Riley had 11 and tied for the team lead with eight rebounds.
 
UPike will wrap up the 2023-24 regular season on Wednesday night, hosting Tennessee Wesleyan University. The game is scheduled for the UPike Gym at 7:30 p.m.