PIKEVILLE, Ky. — Senior-day was relatively stress free for the fourth-ranked University of Pikeville men’s basketball team as it sped past St. Catharine 95-71, giving Michael Eneh, Bruce Haynes, Kenny Manigault and Hobo McCoy a proper send off in the East Ky. Expo Center.
It was also the 40th straight win for the Bears (24-2, 11-2 MSC) at home and it came in a game that it never trailed, instead taking an 18-point lead in the first half before going up by as many as 31 in the final 20 minutes.
McCoy put UPIKE up by that 31-point margin with a jumper in the corner with 6:45 to play in the game. The Patriots got as close as 18 down the stretch after a 15-2 run, but an 8-0 UPIKE run followed to put the game away.
Christian Leach led all scorers with a season-high 18 points, shooting a perfect 6 of 6 from the field and hitting 6 of 7 free throws. Manigault backed him up with 16 points, four rebounds, two blocks and two steals, while Jackson Hussey and Macari Brooks added 15 and 11 points, respectively.
Khalil Murphy paced St. Catharine (10-15, 4-9 MSC) with 16 points and Ben Vozzola and Lorenzo Dewberry both added 13.
The Patriots struggled from the field, hitting at just 36.1 percent as UPIKE fared better at 46.7 percent. While St. Catharine hit 10 3-pointers, the Bears struggled to get anything going from deep, hitting just 4 of 19 shots.
UPIKE was outrebounded 39-37, but it didn’t matter much due to the Patriots inability to hold onto the ball. They gave up 23 turnovers to the Bears’ 10, resulting in a 22-7 advantage in points off turnovers for UPIKE. Free throws played an even bigger role in the rout as the Bears made 35 freebies, compared to 17 for St. Catharine.
It took less than 10 minutes for the Bears to get their lead into double figures and after the Patriots got back within nine with 3:50 left in the first half, UPIKE responded with an 11-2 run to go up by 18 at the break.
Three road games remain in the regular season for the Bears, starting with a trip to Georgetown at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday.
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