Box Score Campbellsville, KY – The UC men's basketball team returned to their winnings ways as they defeated Brescia 84-64 Friday night at Powell Athletic Gym.  With the win the Patriots improve to 7-1, while the Bearcats drop to 1-5.

Making his first start of the season, Kaashif English scored the first bucket of the contest to give UC an early lead. Brescia tied the score twice, before Taylor Gover hit back-to-back shots from behind the arc to give the Patriots a 13-7 lead with 13:47 remaining in the first half.  After the Bearcats hit a field goal, Cumberlands went on an 8-0 run to push their lead to 21-9 midway through the first half.  Brecia used a 12-5 run, over the course of six minutes, to cut the lead to 26-21. The Patriots responded as Bernard Samuel made a dunk, followed by an Anthony Eaves three-pointer pushed the lead back to ten points, 31-21.  Gover and Travon Lebranche each hit from long range in the final minutes to give UC a 37-30 lead at the break.

Cumberlands shot 53% from the field in the first half and continued their strong shooting in the second half as they made 56% of their shots.  Malik Colvin-Selden began the second half with back-to-back slams to give UC an 11 point advantage.  Cumberlands used a 12-5 run, including seven points from Samuel, to extend their lead to 53-35 four minutes in.  The Bearcats hit a field goal, before Colvin-Selden, who recorded all nine of his points in the second half, made a pair of field goals to put the Patriots ahead by 20 at 57-37.  From that point, Cumberlands went on a 15-7 run to extend their lead to 72-44 midway through the second half.  Two minutes later a Lebranche layup pushed the lead to 30 points to give UC its largest lead of the contest.  The Patriots converted four straight free throws, before the Bearcats scored ten unanswered to cut the lead to 80-62 with 1:57 remaining.  Gary and Lebranche each netted a bucket in the final minutes for the 84-64 victory.

Leading the way for the Patriots was Samuel, who recorded a team-high 21 points and five assists. It marks the fifth time this season that Samuel has dished out five assists in a game.  Lebranche finished with a career-high 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Gary chipped in 14 points.  Gover tallied a season-high 12 points, on 4-6 shooting and Eaves finished with ten points.  As a team Cumberlands shot a season-high 55% from the field.

The Patriots will return to the court Saturday, November 25, when they wrap up play at the Campbellsville Classic as they square off with Central Penn at 1 p.m. 

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