PIKEVILLE, Ky.-- Cumberland Men's Basketball (17-7, 12-7 MSC) puts together one of their best all-around wins of the season on the road against Pikeville (15-10, 8-9 MSC) in a 78-59 conference victory.

Isaac Stephens got things started for the Phoenix in the early stages of the game as he scored the first bucket at the 19:13 mark with a great move in the paint. The Bears and the Phoenix traded blows early on, leading to a 10-10 tie with 14:23 to play in the half. Stephens did a great job getting to the line and finishing the three-point play before a Tavon King hit back-to-back threes to give the Phoenix a 19-10 advantage.

Cumberland did a great job of getting out in transition early on to continue to put up points on Pikeville. A Malachi Johnson layup at the ten-minute mark kept the lead at six points at 23-17 Cumberland. The Phoenix went on a 14-6 run over the next eight minutes to grow their lead to 37-23 after another Stephens bucket.

Cumberland led Pikeville 37-26 at the half. As a team, Cumberland had a very efficient first half with a 53.2 field goal percentage through 20 minutes of play. CU had two players in double figures at the break as Tavon King led the way with 13 points, followed closely by Isaac Stephens with 11 points.

Cumberland picked up right where they left off to begin the second half as Isaac Stephens got to the line and hit both of his free throws to keep the CU lead at seven. TJ Stargell turned defense into offense as he grabbed a contested rebound and took it to the hoop for two giving the Phoenix a 46-35 lead at the 15-minute mark.

Offensively, the Phoenix were firing on all cylinders down the stretch as almost every player was getting involved in the scoring down the stretch. Tyler Byrd hit a nice fadeaway jumper to keep the CU ahead 11 at 55-44 at the 9:48 mark. Byrd was not done there as he added back-to-back threes to put the Phoenix up 16 at 65-49. Cumberland started to slow the game down around the 5:17 mark to close out the game over the Bears. CU put together one of their best all-around games of the season in their 78-59 road victory over the Bears.

As a team, the Phoenix put together an impressive field goal percentage of 53.3 on the night, going 32-60 from the field. Their three-point percentage was not as high as they finished with a 27.3 but they did hit several long two-pointers in the game. Cumberland also won the game on the glass with 33 rebounds to Pikeville's 20, while also only turning the ball over five times to UPike's ten.

Individually, almost every player had an efficient outing for the team. Isaac Stephens led the way with 19 points on the day to go with five rebounds and four steals while shooting 8-9 from the field and 3-3 from the line. Tavon King had a solid day, as well, with 18 points on 7-13 shooting with two assists and two steals. TJ Stargell had nine points to go along with nine rebounds, six assists, and a steal. Stargell is currently three assists away from tying the all-time Cumberland assists record of Marquel Hickerson who played for the Phoenix from 2013-17. Kelvin Jackson also posted solid numbers from the bench as he added nine points, six rebounds, two assists, and a steal to the team tally.

Cumberland takes on the Pikeville Bears once again on a quick turnaround on Monday, Feb. 14 at 6 p.m. in a rescheduled game at home. TJ Stargell has a great opportunity to tie or break the record in the matchup to go along with what could be head coach Jeremy Lewis's 200th career coaching victory at Cumberland.