WVU Tech Men's Basketball falls just short against No. 12 Pikeville

Jackson Tackett leads the Golden Bears with a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds

First year WVU Tech Men's Basketball head coach Corey Acord was not looking for a moral victory Tuesday night.

However, after his team pushed No. 12 Pikeville to the brink of an upset-win, Acord was pleased with what he saw on the floor.

The Bears hit the floor ready to go, jumping on the home team for a 10-point lead less than three minutes into the contest.

Tech fought back and trailed 27-23 with 8:21 remaining in the first half before someone put a lid on the basket.

With the home team struggling to score, Pikeville exploded on a 16-3 run for a 43-26 lead at the 1:37 mark of the half.

Trailing by 15 points at halftime, the Golden Bears did not fold the tent and began to claw away at the deficit.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Liam Craven and Brandon Moore moved Tech inside double digits less than two minutes into the second half.

A score in the lane by Jackson Tackett and a long ball from Ian Goings brought the Golden Bears within four points before form Chapmanville all-stater Zion Blevins answered for the Bears.

The disruption was only momentary.

Tackett scored inside again before he converted a conventional 3-point play to cut the deficit to one point.

When Moore ripped a 3-pointer at the 12:01 mark, Tech had the lead for the first time in the contest.

The battle bounced back and forth, but with 8:37 to play, Tech led 55-52. Unfortunately for the Golden Bears, they could not hold the advantage down the stretch.

The visitors pushed the lead out to six points, but with 3:39 to play, but the Golden Bears trailed by just two with the ball at 65-63

A costly turnover prevented a tying or go-ahead score.

Two buckets from Pikeville spread the lead and Tech could never get closer than four points down the stretch.

Tackett led all scorers with 22 points and nine rebounds. Moore added 17 points to go along with six assists and six rebounds.

Goings scored 14 points, while Roman Kellum scored nine and grabbed six rebounds. Cole Chapman had seven assists.

The road gets no easier for WVU Tech (1-1) who heads to Williamsburg, KY for games with No. 20 University of the Cumberlands (KY) Thursday and Campbellsville University (KY) Friday.

Acord talked about the first setback of the season.