Williamsburg, KY – Despite shooting almost 41% from beyond the arc and a stifling defensive presence, the UC men's basketball team lost the battle 85-78 against Shawnee State Saturday afternoon at the O. Wayne Rollins Center. With the win, Shawnee State moves to 21-2 overall and 16-1 in the MSC, while Cumberlands stands at 15-8 on the year with a 9-8 MSC record.
Leading the way for the Patriots was Tevin Olison with 29 points, six rebounds, and a block. This marks the fourth-straight game where Olison has scored more than 25 points. Collin Kelley chipped in 14 points and nine boards while Steven Fitzgerald contributed 13 points with one block.
The beginning of the first half did not start well for UC as the Bears opened up on a 5-0 run until Olison connected on a deep three to make the score 5-3 with 17:25 remaining. After a Fitzgerald steal that led to some transition offense, Josh Williams banked a shot in to tie the score up at 12-12. Following a series of substitution by both teams, Olison cashed a fadeaway three just before the shot clock expired to cut the Shawnee State lead to 17-15 with 11:39 to go in the first half. Both teams continued to trade buckets over the course of the next three minutes until Fitzgerald was able to even it all up with a three-ball to tie the score at 21-21 with 8:39 remaining. This seemed to spark the Patriots offense as they went on a 10-3 run highlighted with a bank-shot from Kelley that gave UC their largest lead of the game up to that point at 31-24 with 4:26 remaining. However, the Bears did not lie down as they made a run of their own at 15-7 to retain the lead at 39-38 with UC trailing going into halftime.
Shawnee State came out firing at the start of the second half with back-to-back baskets to enlarge their lead to 46-40 with 18:10 left in the game. After a series of gritty possessions by the Patriots, they were able to battle back and tie the score once again at 50-50 with a made three by Austin Hall with 14:54 remaining. The next UC possession, Olison blew past the Bears defense for a monstrous dunk to regain the lead at 52-50 with 14:23 remaining. A couple of minutes later, Fitzgerald notched his second three of the game to widen the UC lead to 61-58 with 9:54 remaining. The two teams continued to fight on exchanging points until the Bears retook the lead at 71-69 with a basket from Donovan Carlise with only 5:07 left in the game. Jahi Hinson was up next for the Patriots with another key dunk to minimize the Shawnee State lead to 75-73 with only 1:54 remaining. In the final 90 seconds of the game, the Bears would go on yet another run at 10-5 to take the win with the final score being 85-78.
The Patriots will hit the court again on Monday, February 8 to take on Pikeville University. Tip-off for the game is at 8:00 PM with live stats available here and live video available here.
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