PIKEVILLE – The University of Pikeville men’s basketball team made a strong statement Saturday night at the East Kentucky Expo Center, winning its third straight game to start the season 92-76 over Ohio Mid-Western College.

The Bears shot 52.2 percent from the floor and took advantage of 25 Ram turnovers to secure a win in the first night of the BB&T Classic. Senior Trevor Setty (28 points, 10 rebounds) and junior Brandon Greene (17 points, 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles to lead the home team, with Greene coming up one block shy of completing a triple-double.

Senior guard Jamar Briscoe came up big for the Bears as well with 19 points, including the first two of the night after catching the tipoff and looking up to see a completely unimpeded path to the basket. Senior point guard Chris Johnson ran the offense efficiently with 10 assists and nine points against just four turnovers.

For the Rams, senior Greg Howard led all scorers with 31 points and eight rebounds on a hot shooting night. Howard was 11-of-19 from the floor, 4-of-6 from three-point range, and a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe. Sophomore Brandon Smith came off the bench to add 13 points and nine boards for the Rams, who lost despite out-rebounding UPIKE 48-34.

A full-court press used sporadically by the Bears seemed to flummox the Rams. UPIKE was able to record 17 steals and 10 blocks as a team.