Williamsburg, KY – The Patriots men's basketball team utilized a 26-8 start en route to a 76-68 win over Life Thursday night in the O. Wayne Rollins Center. With the win the Patriots improve to 13-6 overall and 7-4 in conference play, while the Running Eagles move to 5-9 overall and 2-7 in conference play.
Jahi Hinson was the go-to-scorer for UC as he finished with a game-high 26 points on 9-16 shooting. Hinson was a focal point of the Patriots offense in the second half as he netted 20 of his 26 points. Steven Fitzgerald and J.J. Ramey both joined Hinson in double figures as Fitzgerald had 11 on a 3-4 effort from deep, while Ramey finished with ten points and six rebounds.
UC came out of the gates firing on all cylinders as they jumped out to a 9-0 run within the first four minutes of the game. Lamar Harris Jr. began the game with a thunderous dunk and was followed by back-to-back layups before Fitzgerald drained a three-pointer to cap off the run. Life responded with an 8-3 run of their own to cut the lead to 12-8 with 12:49 remaining. Kahlil Davis drained a three-pointer to spark a Patriots run that yielded 14 unanswered points. Kamari Kenemore was a vital part of Cumberlands runs scoring seven consecutive points, while Hinson capped off the run with a dunk at the 6:04 mark giving Cumberlands a 26-8 lead. Davis and Hinson combined for UC's final six points of the half as Life closed out the half on an 11-6 run to cut the lead to 32-19 at the break.
Cumberlands defensive effort in the first half made a huge difference for them as well as they had one of their best defensive stanzas of the season. Life could only muster a field goal percentage of 28.1% through the first 20 minutes with an 0-6 from deep to their ledge. The Running Eagles put up the lowest first half point total UC has allowed this season.
The second half proved to be much more even with the Running Eagles outscoring UC 49-44 in the final 20 minutes of action. Both teams came out of the breaking strong as the traded basket for basket over the first four minutes of action until Harris Jr. slammed one back and Fitzgerald drained a three to make it 46-29 with 15:16 remaining. Life went on a 12-4 run, in a four minute-span, to cut the lead to nine points at 50-41 with 11:46 left. Hinson and Ramey took charge of the UC offense as they accounted for the next 18 Patriot points with the Detroit native scoring 14 of those. Hinson started to get hot after seeing four free throws go down and he then extended his range out, knocking down a pair of triples with the last making it a 66-55 game with less than five minutes to go. Hinson and Isaiah Payton each added buckets to extend UC's lead to 70-57 with 3:24 remaining. The Running Eagles went on an 11-4 run to cut the lead to six before Austin Hall sank a pair of free throws to seal the victory.
Cumberlands will get back to MSC action on Saturday, January 22, as they take on UT Southern. The Patriots will be playing the host in their matchup with the Firehawks with tip-off set for 4:00 p.m.
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