MARIETTA, Ga. – Jordan Perry's 20-point second half outburst gave UPIKE men's basketball the boost it needed to defeat Life on the road Saturday, 79-71.

The Bears had a great offensive night in the win, shooting 56 percent from the floor overall and 53 percent from long distance.

Perry led all scorers in the game with 29 points, going 10-15 from the floor and 2-2 from distance. He also led the Bears with seven rebounds and nabbed a steal.

The other highlight of the night came in the third minute as Xaviar Gaona made his first appearance in nearly two months. He was limited to just 13 minutes, but recorded three rebounds and an assist.

After a slow start, UPIKE went on a 14-4 run across six minutes to get its first lead of the game at 27-26. That lead eventually grew all the way to six before the halftime buzzer.

A large chunk of UPIKE's offensive production in the first half came from JJ Ramey and DeAndre Barton who were each in double figures by halftime with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

That late second half momentum carried through to the second half which started on an 11-2 run for the Bears, building a 15-point lead.

The lead reached as high as 17 with three and a half minutes to go, but Life took a pretty good shot at a comeback with frequent trips to the free throw line, cutting the lead to three with under a minute to go.

A clutch rebound by Jazz Parker on a free throw then two free throws by Perry gave UPIKE enough cushion to ride the lead out.

UP NEXT

UPIKE has just three regular season games left, the next of which is on Saturday when the Bears take on Cumberlands (Ky.) at 4 p.m. at Appalachian Wireless Arena.

-UPIKE-