The Hopkinsville Tigers evened their record at the City of Middletown Holiday Classic and put an end to a two-game slide with a 91-78 victory over DeSales on Tuesday at Eastern High School.
The Tigers rode a 50-point 1st half to their second-highest point total of the season to improve to 5-4 overall. They’ll wrap up play until after the New Year on Wednesday with their final game at Eastern.
Daisjaun Mercer and KC Cabiness combined for 12 1st-quarter points and Antonio Williams added five to get the Tigers out to a 25-16 advantage.
Bubba Leavell got going with nine and KeiMarion Smith knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to score eight in the 2nd quarter. Hopkinsville took a 50-31 lead into the halftime break.
Carter Bischoff scored a game-high 30 points for DeSales, including 20 in the 2nd half, but the Tigers were never threatened. Williams scored eight and Olajuwon White chipped in six and the Tigers took a 14-point cushion into the 4th quarter.
Just as they did in the opening frame, Mercer and Cabiness combined for 12 points in the 4th. Cabiness finished with 20 and 10 rebounds to lead the Tigers, with Leavell, Smith, Mercer, White, and Williams also reaching double figures. White also pulled down nine rebounds and Smith collected eight.
Hopkinsville 25 25 20 21 — 91
DeSales 16 15 25 22 — 78
Hopkinsville (5-4) — Cabiness 20, Leavell 19, Williams 15, Smith 13, Mercer 12, White 10, Manning 2
DeSales (4-6) — Bischoff 30, W. Gibson 17, C. Gibson 14, Cummins 10, Carr-Cole 2
