PIKEVILLE, KY – Two late free throws by the Pikeville Bears proved to be the difference as UPike beat No. 24 Bethel 67-66 Saturday afternoon in Pikeville. With the loss the Lady Wildcats dropped to 8-6 overall and 3-4 in the Mid-South Conference. Pikeville improved to 8-4 and 4-4. Bethel has dropped two in a row on their road trip which will conclude with a game Monday at Georgetown.
Bethel trailed 26-16 in the second quarter but used a 14-4 run to tie the game at 30. UPike led 35-32 at the half and jumped out to an early third quarter 40-32 lead before Bethel outscored the Bears 16-5 to grab a 48-45 margin. Bethel held a 51-49 lead at the end of three.
The fourth quarter saw both teams battle for the lead. There were nine ties and nine lead changes in the game, with most of those coming in the final ten minutes.
Mickey Head gave the Lady Cats a 66-65 lead but Pikeville's Brianne Burbridge hit two free throws with four seconds left to give the Bears their second win over Bethel on the season. The Bears beat Bethel 62-53 December 5 in McKenzie.
Both squad shot 40 percent from the field. Bethel was 25-of-58 and hit three three-pointers. The Cats hit 13- of -16 free throw attempts. UPike was 25-of-62 from the floor and hit 10 three's. They were 7-of-9 from the foul line. Two keys were Pikeville's bench scoring and rebounding. The Bears had a 29-6 margin in points off the bench and a 37-28 rebound advantage.
Jani Crawford led Bethel with 17 points. Ever Walker scored 16 points. Head finished with 14 and eight rebounds. Millie Bryant had a good second half and finished with 11 points. Madison Henegar had six points and six rebounds.
Mary Englert led the Bears with 17 points.
Coach Chris Nelson shared his thoughts after the tough loss." I hurt for our players. I thought we played good enough to win the game but made enough mistakes to lose it. Our players battled all night and it was a typical physical back and forth MSC game. We came up short on the last possession of the game."
The Lady Cats conclude their three game road swing with a game at Georgetown Monday afternoon. Tip-of is slated for noon CST.
Live video:
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/georgetown/
Live stats:
http://www.dakstats.com/Websync/Pages/Webcasts.aspx?association=10
