Williamsburg, KY - Saturday afternoon's contest between UT Southern and UC promised to be a good one as the two teams clashed with only two and half games separating them in the Mid-South standings. The two teams battled till the final whistle with the Firehawks able to claim the slim victory, winning 71-65.

Jahi Hinson put together another stellar effort as his offensive output helped keep the Patriots alive in this one. After posting a game-high 26 points on Thursday against Life, Hinson put on another great performance with 25 points on 11-15 shooting while grabbing five rebounds. Steven Fitzgerald joined his teammate in double figures with 16 with a trio of triples to his line while grabbing six rebounds. J.J. Ramey also made his presence felt, barely missing out on a double-double with nine points and a team-high eight rebounds to his ledger.

Hinson and Kahlil Davis were hitting on all cylinders in the early going with the tandem accounting for the first nine points of the game for UC. It wasn't until an Austin Hall putback made it a 14-11 game that Cumberlands had a third player with a made basket. The trio of Patriots had all but two of those 11 points come in the paint as head coach Matt Daniel looked to establish an inside-heavy offensive approach in the early going.

UT Southern opted to shoot it from the outside and they connected on a good amount of their deep shots, shooting 6-15 (40%) from three in the first half. Their longe range efforts helped the Firehawks claim the advantage as the first half went along with UT Southern finding themselves with their largest lead of the opening half after a made trey. The Firehawks used the three-ball to establish a lead, finding themselves ahead 22-11 with 11:33 to go in the opening frame.

UC began to find their rhythm after being doubled up as Cumberlands went on a 20-8 run during the remainder of the opening half to take a 31-30 into the halftime break. The Patriots continued to look inside with five of their next seven shots came in the paint with Fitzgerald and Ramey each pitching in a made bucket while Hinson had a pair of layups and a dunk to round of the baskets. Cumberlands managed to extend their makes out to beyond the arc before the end of the period with Fitzgerald hit a pair of treys to help give UC some momentum, and a one-point lead, heading into the locker room.

UT Southern came into the second half as the aggressor, going on a 10-0 run out of the halftime break to claim a 40-31 lead with 17:32 to go. UC cut that lead down on a pair of made layups by Hinson who was followed by Fitzgerald with an interior shot of his own, making it 40-37. The Firehawks opted to work the ball inside more in the second half and it proved potent as they went on another run, growing their lead back out to 10 with 10:23 remaining in the game with UT Southern found themselves ahead 51-41.

Once again the Patriots whittled the lead down, drawing even at 56 apiece with seven minutes to go. Kamari Kenemore got the 15-5 run started with a triple before layups from Ramey, Hall, and Hinson helped continually close the gap. Ramey joined in on the three-point fun with his own triple, making it 54-54. After a pair of Firehawk free throws, Hinson threw down his second dunk of the game with the score once again being tied as this one began to draw to a close.

That was as close as the Patriots would get, though, as UT Southern found ways to hold onto a slim lead in the final several minutes. The Firehawks came up with some timely shots inside, outside, and from the charity stripe down the stretch while UC had no answer, ending in a six-point win for the visitors in this one.

The Patriots move to 13-7 on the season and will look to bounce back in their next contest as they match up with Campbellsville. UC is set to take on the Tigers at Campbellsville on Thursday, January 27th, with tip-off set for 8:00 PM.

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