Pikeville, KY – Bears esports claimed the program's first Mid-South Conference Championship Tuesday night, dominating Shawnee State 2-0 in the 2022 MSC Spring League of Legends title match.
League of Legends is a team-based, 5v5 strategy game in which the object is to use one of over 140 "Champions" to destroy the opposing teams base.
UPIKE's League of Legends team recently competed in the Collegiate League of Legends tournament where they went 3-3 before moving on to their inaugural appearance in MSC league play. The Bears opened the tournament with a 1-0 defeat of Bethel in Phase 1 round 1 before taking down Shawnee State 1-0 in round two.
Phase 2 opened on March 7
th as the Bears remained undefeated via a forfeit from Bethel. UPIKE's lone loss in the tournament came on March 14
th in the second round of phase 2 to Shawnee.
As the top team in the bracket, the Bears earned a bye in the semifinals (Phase 3) as Shawnee State defeated Bethel which set the stage for the Bears vs Bears championship match.
Game 1 | UPIKE 20 kills -- Shawnee State 11 kills
Game one in the best of three title match was closely contested but UPIKE benefitted from solid play early on via
Nicholas Letherbarrow (Hallal) who utilized
Akshan, a champion in the assassin class. Letherbarrow gave the Bears an early advantage that tilted momentum in their favor. It was
Jacob Yoh (Circus) who dealt the final blow, using the Mage Champion "
Fiddlesticks" to secure the Barron and push the Bears to victory.
Game 2 | UPIKE 31 kills – Shawnee State 5 kills
The second match was a lopsided affair in favor of UPIKE as
Lucas Bouey (GrayFawx) used an ultimate ability early on to complete a quadrikill. The Bears kept the foot on the gas, running away with the match to secure the 2-0 championship win.
Recently, the Bears' Overwatch unit finished third in the MSC spring tournament before League of Legends closed the book on the 2021-22 season with Monday's tournament championship. UPIKE esports is primed to return in fall of 2022 with several new roster additions while the program explores adding new games to its arsenal.
