Williamsburg, KY – Tevin Olison netted a career-high 33 points, including the game-winning three with 3.7 seconds remaining in the game to give the 16^th-ranked UC men's basketball team a 73-70 win over #25 Shawnee State Saturday afternoon at Randy Vernon Court.  With the win the Patriots extend their win streak to nine straight while improving to 16-4 overall and 7-1 in conference play.

Olison converted 7-9 from behind the arc, while hitting 80% from the charity stripe to go along with his five rebounds and four steals.  Caleb Taylor continues to rack up double-doubles as he finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jahi Hinson grabbed nine boards to go along with nine points.

Cumberlands came out strong as Steven Fitzgerald hit consecutive buckets to give UC a 6-2 lead.  Shawnee utilized an 11-3 run to take a 13-9 lead with 14:07 remaining in the first half.  The Patriots trailed by as many as five points midway through the first half, however, a Taylor put back sparked a 13-0 run, with all the points coming from Olison and Taylor, to put UC in front 27-18 with 5:45 remaining.  Cumberlands got a pair of three's from Olison coupled with one from Bri'an Brown to extend their lead to 41-32 at the break.

The two teams traded buckets to begin the second half as the Bears cut the lead to 46-40 three minutes in.  Hinson hit back-to-back buckets as part of five unanswered for the Patriots and pushed the lead back to 11 points.  Shawnee State went on a 17-2 run, over a seven-minute span, to retake the lead 57-53 with 7:57 left.  Olison and the Patriots responded with six straight points, including a four-point play, putting UC back in front a minute later.  A three-point play from Taylor coupled with three free throws from Hinson put Cumberlands in front 70-66 with 2:07 left. Justin Johnson tallied four straight points from Shawnee State to even the score with 1:22 remaining.  In the waning seconds of regulation, Olison hit nothing-but-net on a shot from 35 feet out to give UC a 73-70 win.

The nine game win streak is Cumberlands longest win streak since the 2014-15 season.  The win is also historic as the Patriots close out January undefeated for the first time in the Coach Don Butcher era.

The Patriots will return to action Saturday, February 2, when they take a break from conference play and host Oakwood at Randy Vernon Court. Tip off is slated for 7:30 p.m. with live stats will be available here and live video available here.

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