Georgetown, KY – The 24^th-ranked University of the Cumberlands men's basketball team second half rally came up just short as the fell to the top-ranked Georgetown 79-77 Saturday afternoon at Davis-Reid Alumni Gym.  With the win the Tigers improve to 17-1 overall and 2-1 in MSC action while the Patriots drop to 14-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

Georgetown jumped out to a 5-2 lead, but UC responded with seven unanswered points to take a 9-5 lead four minutes into the first half.  Georgetown battled back to even the score at 11-11 before Taylor Gover found Eric Duncan for a three-pointer to put UC back on top.  The Tigers went on an 11-2 run, over the course of three-minutes, to take a 22-16 lead with 8:51 remaining.  Coming out of a timeout, Duncan found Bernard Samuel, who hit from long range to cut the deficit to three.  From that point Georgetown went on a 20-9 run to extend their lead to 42-28 with two minutes remaining.  Cumberlands battled back as Will Gary netted five straight points and Malik Colvin-Seldon added a field goal in the final seconds to cut the deficit to 44-35 at the break.

The two teams traded buckets to start the second half before Duncan drained his second of three triples to make it a six point game.  Cumberlands converted six straight free throws, over a three minute span, to even the game at 46-46 with 15:20 left.  Georgetown used a 15-2 run to take a 61-48 lead midway through the second half. Anthony Eaves scored eight of UC's next ten points, including a pair of three-pointers to cut the deficit to 63-59 with 8:21 remaining.  After a Tigers' basket, Samuel, Chance Morton and Will Gary each hit a field goal to tie the game at 65-65.  The game was tied again at 67-67, before Georgetown pulled away to take a seven point lead with 1:54 remaining.  Cumberlands continued to fight back as Colvin-Seldon and Duncan each hit a pair of free throws, while a Samuel basket with 24 seconds remaining cut the deficit to three points.  Trent Gilbert converted of two from the line, before Duncan hit from behind-the-arc to make it a one point game with two seconds remaining.  The Patriots had an opportunity to tie the game, but was unable to get a shot off giving the Tigers the 79-77 win.  

Leading the way for the Patriots was Colvin-Seldon, who tallied a team-high 18 points, five assists, and five rebounds.  Samuel and Duncan finished with 16 points apiece, while Kaashif Englished grabbed 11 rebounds for the second straight game.  As a team the Patriots shot 91.3% (21-23) from the charity stripe.

The Patriots return to the court Thursday, January 18, when they travel to Lebanon, TN to take on Cumberland. Tipoff is scheduled for 9 p.m.

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