Williamsburg, KY – Jahi Hinson recorded his fourth double-double of the season as the Patriots men's basketball team outscored Bethel 38-24 in the second half for a 71-58 conference win Saturday afternoon on Randy Vernon Court. With the win, UC improves to 12-5 overall and 6-3 in conference play, while the Wildcats move to 10-6 and 2-6 against the MSC.
Hinson finished with a team-high 12 rebounds to go along with ten points, all of which came in the second half. Steven Fitzgerald led the Patriots with 14 points, five assists, and eight rebounds, while J.J. Ramey and Kahlil Davis added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Bethel came out strong hitting the first three field goals of the game to take an 8-2 advantage three minutes into the first half. However, the Patriots hit four of the first five from the charity stripe to cut the deficit to 8-4. The Patriot's defense continued their strong effort with a pair of blocks and grabbing four defensive rebounds to limit the Wildcats while Austin Hall grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back to cut the deficit to 10-8 with 14:50 remaining. Kahlil Davis netted seven points as the Patriots scored nine unanswered to take an 17-10 lead with 12:42 remaining. After a scoreless couple of minutes of play, Kamari Kenemore drove and kicked it out to Matt Cromer for a three extending UC's lead to ten at 20-10 midway through the first half.
The Wildcats went on a 5-0 run to cut into the deficit, however. The Patriots responded with Fitzgerald hitting on home from behind-the-arc to give UC a 23-17 advantage with 7:36 left. Bethel used a 10-4 run to even the score at 27-27 with 3:22 remaining. Hall added a pair of layups each of which put Cumberlands back in front 31-30 with a minute remaining. Bethel retook the lead before Davis added a layup in the closing seconds of the half to cut the deficit to 34-33 at the break.
Cumberlands came out of the second half strong with a dunk from Hinson coupled with a tip-in from Harris as the Patriots went on an 10-0 run to retake the lead 43-36 with 15:20 remaining. The two teams trade possession as Hinson drained his lone long ball of the game to give the Patriots a 47-42 edge with 13:29 remaining. UC went on an 8-2 run, including a dunk from Hinson and four points from J.J. Ramey to extend the Patriots advantage to 55-44 midway through the second half.
The Patriots continued to crack down defensively as they held Bethel scoreless over the next four minutes in part to a pair of blocks, while offensively UC went on a 6-0 run pushing the lead to 61-46 with 6:00 minutes remaining. The teams traded baskets over the next several minutes as Fitzgerald hit a jumper with two minutes remaining extending Cumberlands lead to 71-54, their largest of the game. Bethel scored the final four points of the game for the 71-58 final.
The Patriots set their sights on their next test after this win. UC will take to the road as they will try to play spoilers in their next contest against. Lindsey Wilson. That game will be played on Thursday, January 13th, with tip-off set for 9:00 p.m. EST.
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