CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. -- Darrion Leslie put the team on his back, scoring a career high 32 points to help the 14th-ranked University of Pikeville men's basketball team outlast Campbellsville 71-65 on Saturday.
Leslie's total was the most points scored by a UPIKE (21-6, 6-5 MSC) player since Christian Leach tallied 30 against Life last January. Clint Nwosuh joined him in double figures with 11, followed by Trey Rakes adding nine.
Making Leslie's day even sweeter, he tallied a double-double as well with 10 rebounds, helping UPIKE lead the Tigers (12-13, 2-9 MSC) on the glass 40-36.
Elliott Young led the Tigers with 20 points, followed by Jalen Coates with 18 and Rod Lawrence pitching in with 11. Campbellsville was slightly better from the field at 42.3 to 41.3 percent and hit one extra 3-pointer, but Campbellsville only made 15 of 27 free throws.
UPIKE led by as many as 11 points late in the second half before Campbellsville went on a 13-3 run to grab a 64-63 lead on an Elliott Young layup with 1:14 to play. It was the first lead for the Tigers since the score was 19-18, but it didn't last for long as Rakes buried a 3 on the next trip to give UPIKE the lead for good.
Including the Rakes 3, the Bears closed the game scoring eight of the final nine points to grab the six-point win.
HOW IT WENT DOWN
Leslie could have penned a book in the first 15 minutes of the game called "Darrion Goes to Work" as he repeatedly punished the Campbellsville defense on his way to 15 points. UPIKE needed his effort as it took a while for the rest of the offense to get going.
Jordan Perry was one of the Bears that got into the mix with an early bucket as he put them in front 9-5 at the 13:14 mark. But that bucket prompted a 5-0 Tiger run to give them a one-point lead and the game stayed tight for the next 10 minutes when it was a 20-19 UPIKE lead after a Leslie layup.
A 7-0 UPIKE run provided the first cushion of the game as Clint Nwosuh's 3-point play ended the spurt and put the Bears in front 25-19. Jalen Coates took off through the paint to cut the deficit to three with 2:23 on the clock, but UPIKE scored five of the last seven points of the half to take a 31-25 lead into the locker room.
It took eight minutes for the Tigers to cut into the lead by any real margin when a 3 by Shawn Johnson made it 46-40. A 5-0 UPIKE run followed to push it back out to 11, but that also prompted Campbellsville to score 10 of the next 12 points to get within three at 53-50 with 5:47 to play.
The Bears pushed their lead back out to nine over the next two minutes but eight straight points for Campbellsville made it a one-point game with 2:24 to play. Jordan Perry came up big with a 3 to push the lead to four, but once again the Tigers went on a run, scoring five straight to grab their first lead since it was 19-18 at 64-63.
But a Rakes 3 on the next trip took the wind out of the Tigers as it started an 8-1 spurt that made sure the Bears stayed on top for good.
UP NEXT
UPIKE gets back to action in the East Ky. Expo Center at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday against Cumberland (Tenn.).
-UPIKE-
