PIKEVILLE – Jayvian Delacruz began his senior season in grand fashion on Friday with a career-high 31 points in UPIKE’s 95-70 win against Central Penn.
Delacruz finished two rebounds shy of a double-double with eight boards, while making 11-14 shots including three of five three-pointers.
Although the final score looked like a dominant win, it wasn’t easy for UPIKE early, even if it was self-inflicted.
The Bears started 1-8 from the free-throw line, and because of that UPIKE was unable to pull away early despite shooting an even 50 percent in the first half. However, that ship got righted later in the first half and a 15-4 run gave UPIKE an 18-point lead.
Xaviar Gaona kept UPIKE afloat early by scoring eight of his 13 points in the first 10 minutes.
UPIKE came out of the second half on fire, expanding the lead to as much as 24 in the first five minutes. The long-distance shots became even more friendly for the Bears in the second half.
A long 23-8 run for the Bears allowed that lead to expand all the way out to 35 points, thanks in part to a trio of three-pointers from Delacruz and Chase Parsley.
As Bears fans have known for a while, Parsley continued his reputation as a three-point threat on Friday, hitting 4-5 from distance en route to 14 points from the point guard position. He also had five assists to just one turnover in the game.
A strong UPIKE swarm defense caused nightmares for the Knights all game long, who committed 17 turnovers in the game and shot just 42 percent from the floor — 20 percent from long-distance.
Outside of Delacruz’s dominance, the scoring for UPIKE was well spread. Six different Bears scored at least five points in the game, including Da’Rell Domineck who also flirted with a double-double with eight points and seven rebounds.
The win marks UPIKE’s seventh straight opening night win, a streak dating back to 2011, when UPIKE opened the season at Louisville.
(Source: UPIKE Sports Information Office)