Bluefield came close to snapping its losing streak, but dropped a pair of road games on Thursday and Saturday.

On Thursday, the Rams (7-14, 2-12 Mid-South Conference) came within striking distance late, but ended up falling against No. 7 Pikeville (19-3, 10-3 MSC), 74-68.

A terrific shooting performance, 51.9 percent from the floor (27-of-52), helped Bluefield cut into a 19-point second-half deficit. The Rams cut the Pikeville lead to five points in the final minute, but could not close out the upset bid.

Bluefield's defense smothered the Bears' offense, keeping them to 37.8 percent shooting and just 74 points. Pikeville leads the nation, averaging 92.4 points per game on the season.

The Rams continued their tough three-point defense, which ranks in the top-10 nationally, holding Pikeville to 20.8 percent (5-of-24) from outside.

Senior center Byron Carpenter of Virginia Beach, Va., led the Rams with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Junior forward Pierre Walters of Danville, Va., added a career-high 21 points.

The Rams played without the team's second-leading scorer, Kearsten Marion (16.4 points per game), who was sidelined with an injury.

Trevor Setty led Pikeville in scoring with 18 points.

Bluefield returned to the court on Saturday afternoon at UVA-Wise, but lost in the final seconds, 64-63.

After a 9-0 run in the final minutes of the first half, the Rams took a 34-27 lead into the halftime break.

UVA-Wise closed the gap in the second half and took a late lead, but a lay-up by Walters tied the game with 27 seconds remaining.

Darius Smith drove to the basket and drew a foul with three seconds remaining, and sank the first of two free throw attempts to put the Cavaliers ahead 64-63. After the second attempt missed, Bluefield called timeout with 1.7 seconds. The half-court heave came up short of the basket.

Marion returned after a one-game absence and scored 15 points and had five assists. The Houston, Texas, native was 3-of-5 on three-point attemps. Walters continued to prove himself as a reliable inside threat for the Rams, posting 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Carpenter scored 15 points, and has now scored in double figures in 60 of his last 61 games. He is ranked second in the conference and sixth in the nation in scoring, averaging 21.4 points per game.

The Rams have now lost eight consecutive games, but have come close to snapping the streak in the last three contests. Along with the one-point loss against the Cavaliers, the Rams have played two close games against teams ranked in the top 10 of the national poll.

Bluefield returns home to play (RV) Shawnee State on Thursday at 8 p.m. The Rams will also host Rio Grande on Saturday at 4 p.m.