COLUMBIA, Mo. – No. 12 Faulkner (Ala.) University scored 18 of the final 26 points on Friday night to knock off No. 5 University of Pikeville 69-68.
 
The win moves the Eagles into Saturday's second round against homestanding Columbia College. UPike's season ends with a record of 27-5.
 
The Bears had the ball at midcourt with 7.1 seconds left, but a 24-foot jumper by senior Bradley Bunch fell short as the buzzer sounded.
 
UPike, the nation's leading free throw shooting team, was 4 of 8 from the line.
 
AAC Freshman and Defensive Player of the Year Zion Blevins led the Bears with 20 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. All 68 points scored by the Bears came from the starters, with all of them reaching double figures.
 
Faulkner led at the half 36-32 and had been on top 34-23 with 3:37 left in the half before a UPike rally. The Bears scored seven straight points, with Blevins accounting for five of them. The teams traded baskets before the break.
 
The Eagles led 42-34 with 18:29 left before another Bears' rally. This time they scored 12 unanswered points, with Blevins having half them. A layup by Blevins put the Bears on top, and a three-pointer by senior Keian Worrix had the Bears in front 46-42 with 13:06 left.
 
Worrix finished with 10 points and six assists. He moved into 26^th place on the all-time scoring list, finishing with 1,122 points.
 
The lead grew to as many as nine, 60-51, with 7:21 left. Again it was Blevins doing the honors, scoring on a layup.
 
From there, however, it was all Eagles.
 
Bunch finished with 13 points on the night. It gave him a total of 1,738 for his career, where he is 10^th on the list of the school's all-time greatest scorers.
 
Cutlip also had 13, with fellow senior LA Walker tossing in 12.