Marietta, GA – Jahi Hinson and Steven Fitzgerald combined for 51 points as the UC men's basketball team earned an 82-72 victory over Life Saturday afternoon at the Bird's Nest. With the win the Patriots improve to 8-3 overall and 2-2 in Mid-South Conference play.
Hinson was aggressive on the offensive end as he finished the game 10-11 from the charity stripe while going 9-21 from the field and scoring a game-high 28 points. It's the sixth time this season that Hinson has netted at least 20 points in a game for Cumberlands. Fitzgerald's efforts were more spread out as he filled up the stat sheet, notching 23 points on 9-13 shooting with a team-high four made threes to go along with five rebounds, and four assists. Matt Cromer added 15 points and a season-high eight boards in the win.
Life came out as the more aggressive team, grabbing a seven-point advantage at 8-1 just three minutes into the game. The Patriots responded with a pair of made shots each from Hinson and Fitzgerald to cut it to a one-point deficit before a Kahlil Davis tripe gave UC their first lead of the game at 12-10 with 14:09 to go in the opening half. The two teams traded baskets over the next five minutes as the game saw three lead changes with the Running Eagles taking a 17-16 lead midway through the first half.
The Patriots put together a 12-2 run to retake the lead and extend it to a six-point advantage at 28-22 with seven minutes to go until halftime. Hinson jump started the run with five straight Cumberlands points as Fitzgerald added five points, while Isaiah Payton found Lamar Harris for a fast break dunk to cap off the run. Fitzgerald was instrumental in the opening 20 minutes of play for UC as he finished with a dozen points on 5-7 shooting while grabbing three rebounds.
A minute later, UC added to put some distance between themselves and the Running Eagles as they netted ten unanswered points to take a 38-24 advantage with 1:46 remaining. Cumberlands success on that run was in part from strong shooting from the charity stripe where UC converted 6-8 from the line during that stretch, which was capped off with Matt Cromer finishing the and-one. Life closed out the first half on a 9-2 run to help them stay within striking distance heading into the halftime break as the first half came to a close with the Patriots leading 40-33.
Fitzgerald strong play continued as the he drained a three-pointer off an assist from Matt Cromer to open the second half and extend UC's lead to ten points. Life went on a 12-0 run, that spanned five minutes, to take a 45-43 lead. The Patriots responded shooting 6-9, including a trio of threes from Fitzgerald and Austin Hall, over the course of the next five minutes and reclaiming a 58-53 lead midway through the second half.
The two teams traded baskets over the next three minutes until Cumberlands mounted a strong run with seven minutes to go as they were able to play their way to a ten-point lead. Cromer added a pair of three's, while Lamar Harris converted consecutive shots in the paint extending UC's lead to 74-64 with 4:54 to go. The Running Eagles cut the deficit down four as the score stood at 76-72 with 2:37 remaining, however, UC's defense tightened during the remaining time as Life shot 0-4 the rest of the way with three turnovers as they put the final few nails in the coffin. Fitzgerald and Cromer each made a layup while Hinson added two more made free throws to his line to give him ten in the game as Cumberlands grew their lead back out to double-digits in the waning seconds.
Cumberlands looks to carry this momentum as they take a break from conference play and travels to Montgomery, WV to take on West Virginia Tech next Saturday, December 11. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
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