Belleville, IL – After opening the season 4-0 at home, the UC Men's Basketball Team hit the road and got the same outcome as the Patriots defeated Lindenwood-Belleville 88-85 Saturday afternoon at Lynx arena. With the win UC improves to 5-0, while the Lynx drop to 1-3.
Lindenwood-Belleville began the game on a 7-3 run over the first two minutes.
Chance Morton drained a pair of free throws, before
Malik Colvin-Seldon added a field goal to even the score. The Lynx used a 10-2 run over the course of five minutes to take a 17-9 lead with 12:09 remaining. Morton led the Patriots charge hitting three straight field goals, before
Anthony Eaves three-pointer at the 8:20 mark tied the game at 20-20. Lindenwood-Belleville extended their lead back to six but UC kept battling back as Eaves recorded five straight points to make it 32-31 with 2:52 remaining. Two minutes later a pair of Travon LaBranche free throws gave Cumberlands its first lead of the game at 37-36 with 1:09 left in the first half. Neither team converted a shot in the final minute to give the Patriots a one-point advantage at the break.
Cumberlands carried the momentum into the second half as
Bernard Samuel and Morton made back-to-back field goals to extend the lead to 41-36, two minutes in. Morton tallied the Patriots next five points to extend their lead to 46-40. The Lynx tied the game at 46 before LeBranche hit a field goal and
Will Gary stole the ball and made a layup to put UC ahead 50-46 with 12:41 remaining. Lindenwood-Belleville responded with a 13-4 run over the next three minutes to take a 54-59 lead. Samuel tallied 11 of his 19 points to help Cumberlands retake the lead 66-62 with 6:43 remaining. Martavian Payne free throw gave the Lynx a 66-65 lead, before Colvin-Seldon bucket at the 5:01 mark put the Patriots back on top and wouldn't trail again in the game. After Lindenwood-Belleville tied the game twice, Colvin-Seldon made six of his game-high 21 points to give the Patriots a 76-72 lead with 2:47 remaining. Cumberlands lead by as many as seven points in the final two minutes, but Lindenwood-Belleville kept fighting as Jamal Carter's field goal with three seconds remaining for the 88-85 final.
This was the first ever meeting between these two schools in program history.
Leading the way for the Patriots was Colvin-Seldon, who recorded a game-high 21 points, while grabbing four rebounds. Morton tallied 17 points and seven rebounds, while Eaves added 14 points and a pair of steals.
The Patriots will return to the court Tuesday, November 7, when they host Johnson University at 7 p.m. in the O. Wayne Rollins Center. This game will be a Thanksgiving theme game and live video is available
here, while live stats are available
here.
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