The UHA Blazers opened play at the Henderson Chevrolet, Buick, GMC Classic on Tuesday, falling to Union County 58-53 to suffer their third straight defeat.
The loss leaves the Blazers at 2-6 overall and they’ll look to get back on track on Wednesday when they face Daviess County.
Elijah Walton scored six points in the 1st quarter for the Blazers, but Union’s Kaleb Kanipe and Izaiah Manuel combined for 10 to push the Braves to a 17-9 lead.
Javion Brown scored six and Cameron Brown and Gavin Grubbs each added four to help the Blazers outscore Union 19-15 in the 2nd quarter. Eli Mackey posted seven for the Braves and they took a 32-28 lead to the halftime break.
A single point separated the teams in the 3rd, with Matthew Hauret scoring five for the Blazers and Kris Hughes matching him for the Braves. Union County took a three-point edge to the 4th quarter.
Cameron Brown knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and Grubbs chipped in four, but Manuel scored eight of his game-high 18 to see out the Union County victory.
Union County 17 15 12 14 — 58
University Heights 9 19 13 12 — 53
Union County (6-3) — Manuel 18, Kanipe 11, King 10, Mackey 10, Hughes 7, Johnson 2
University Heights (2-6) — Grubbs 11, C. Brown 10, J. Brown 8, Walton 8, Northington 7, Hauret 5, Thomas 4
