PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- After a couple weeks off, the University of Pikeville Esports team jumped back into action, tallying a close 2-1 win over Central Michigan on Monday in the iBUYPOWER Esports Arena on campus. With the win, UPIKE improves to 5-3 on the season with UMass-Lowell up next on the schedule on Saturday.

Game 1

Central Michigan had done their homework on UPIKE and tried to immediately ban out the Bears' Jonathan Song. They used all three of their available bans in the first game to ban Lux, Ahri and Orianna from him. 

Fortunately, Song's champion pool is strong and he was able to fall back on Zed. Along the way, James Williams showed his strength with Nidalee and was able to put UPIKE ahead in both the bottom and mid lanes. In the late stages, UPIKE had full map control and was able to whittle away at CMU's defense until they finished at 34 minutes with a 16,000 gold lead. 

Game 2

Central Michigan changed up its strategy in Game two, focusing more on the bottom lane than the mid. Hunter (CMU) played a defensive tactic instead of trying to fight against Hollywood and ended up going even with him. CMU's Morgana play was on point and it was able to secure a 5-0 lead just 12 minutes in. CMU continued to press that advantage throughout the mid game and kept UPIKE behind in gold and objectives throughout the duration. The Bears stayed in contention as long as they could, but weren't able to overcome the early lead that Central Michigan had built. 

Game 3

In game three, CMU tried to focus their jungle pressure on the mid lane against Jonathan's Viktor play. Its early ganks didn't go over too well against the Bears, with Jonathan getting himself a decent distance ahead. Afterward, CMU was able to tie things up at five kills apiece about halfway through the action. It wasn't until 22 minutes in that UPIKE was able to take down the first tower.  After it fell, UPIKE was able to start opening up the map and taking control. 

At 30 minutes a team fight broke out in mid lane on the back of a great flash/hook from Cory Smith, and with it the Bears secured their first Baron. Just like in the first game, CMU was able to switch to a very defensive style and only lost 2 towers. UPIKE's earlier siege had left CMU too vulnerable and when they had to leave to protect their base, the Bears secured a second Baron, which ultimately secured the win with a 5,000 gold advantage. 

-UPIKE-