Sophomore guard Rylee Samons fired in 23 points on Saturday afternoon to lead the University of Pikeville to a 73-54 win over Columbia (S.C.) College.
 
Samons hit 7-14 from the arc and made both free throws on the day.
 
The win lifted the Bears to 19-3 on the season, 12-1 in the AAC to maintain their two-game lead in the league standings. The Koalas are now 11-13 overall, 8-7 in the conference.
 
Columbia led 7-6 before it went on a nine-point run that lasted only 2:21 to take a double digit lead. Three Koalas scored in the run, led by sophomore Zach Smith with four. It was his layup with 12:10 left in the half that made the lead 16-6.
 
UPike answered with an extended 20-4 stretch to regain the lead. The Bears hit 7 of 10 from the floor, three of them three-point shots. Samons had eight in the run with senior LA Walker following with seven.
 
A layup by senior guard Bradley Bunch with 4:57 left made the lead 26-20.
 
A Samons three with 38 seconds left, his fourth of the half, gave him 14 and the Bears a 36-28 lead at halftime.
 
In the second half, the lead slipped under double figures only once when junior Chandler O'Bannon sank two free throws to cut it to 56-48 with 9:38 remaining.
 
A layup by sophomore Jaylan Ridgon with 2:04 pushed the lead to 73-53, the largest of the game.
 
Samons was joined in double figures by Walker, who had 12 to go with eight rebounds, and Bunch who finished with 10. Freshman Zion Blevins finished with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
Smith paced the Koalas with 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting on the day. Senior Thomas Whitley had 14 points and seven rebounds.
 
UPike will be back in action on Monday when it visits Columbia International (S.C.) University. Please note the special game time of 5 p.m.