KINGSPORT, Tenn. – Second-seeded University of Pikeville put five players in double figures and opened the 2024 AAC tournament with an 80-73 win over No. 10 Truett McConnell on Thursday afternoon.
 
The win pushed the Bears into Friday afternoon's semifinal, where it will play the winner of the game between No. 3 Columbia International (S.C.) and No. 6 Bryan (Tenn.) College at 4 p.m. at the MeadowView Marriott Conference Resort and Convention Center.
 
The Bears charged out of the gate with the first seven points. Sophomores Bradley Bunch and Keian Worrix had buckets before a Bunch three with 18:25 left, but Truett McConnell responded with back-to-back threes to pull within one.
 
UPike (23-6) broke a 17-all tie with a 14-2 run. Junior Kyonte Thomas was solid, scoring six straight at one point, and when sophomore Keynan Cutlip scored on a layup, the Bears led 31-19 with 4:44 left in the half.
 
TMU (12-18) wasn't interested in folding, however, scoring seven of the half's final eight points. The last four came from senior KJ Riley, and the teams went to the half with UPike leading 32-25.
 
The second half began with a Truett three-pointer by EJ Smith to cut the UPike lead to four, but over the next 4:26, the Bears went on a 14-2 run to get some much-needed breathing room. Senior Issac Stanback asserted himself, scoring six in the run, and when Worrix nailed two free throws with 14:29 left, the lead had grown to 46-30.
 
In the middle of the period, the lead swelled to 18, 59-41, when the Bears scored six unanswered in a stretch punctuated by a fantastic drive from the free throw line by Stanback for a powerhouse slam.
 
Again, Truett McConnell wasn't interesting in going away, and outscored the Bears 15-5 in a 2:47 stretch in which it went 4-of-4 from the arc to pull within four, 77-73, with 50 seconds left.
 
But the Bears sank 3-of-4 free throws down the stretch and pulled out the win.
 
Worrix led the Bears with 20 points and five assists. Stanback followed with 15 points and nine rebounds. Thomas turned in another solid line, scoring 13 while grabbing five rebounds and handing out five assists.
 
Bunch had 13 points and five rebounds while senior Jeremy Dillon tossed in 11 and had seven rebounds.
 
Smith led all scorers with 31 points for TMU. He was 7-of-11 from the arc and added eight rebounds. Freshman Jadon Yeh joined him in double digits with 14 points and four assists.
 
Riley, who had nine points, led Truett with 11 rebounds.