Williamsburg, KY – The Patriots earned a 96-70 win over the Bulldogs in their Mid-South Conference home opener Saturday afternoon. This marked the first time UC has faced off against Wilberforce since they joined the conference.
 
Jahi Hinson had a massive second half scoring 21 of his 30 total points on the day. Three other Patriots netted double digits on Saturday as J.J. Ramey and Steven Fitzgerald came away with 19 points each and Matt Cromer finished with 11. Ramey went a perfect 7-7 from the field and hit all five triples he attempted. Fitzgerald added seven boards and a pair of assists to his stat line while Cromer came away with four rebounds, two assists, and three steals.
 
Both teams came out playing solid defense, with the Patriots scoring the first points of the game off a Fitzgerald jumper after three minutes of play. Hinson was responsible for UC's next four points, hitting a pull up jumper and layup in transition off a Jadrian Flores steal. WU got on the board for the first time with 14:33 left in the half. UC responded with nine points of their own, including an and-one three from Fitzgerald and Ramey's first triple of the day bringing the score to 15-2 with 12 minutes remaining.
 
The Pats continued to let it fly from deep as Brady Bell and Ramey hit back–to-back triples. Wilberforce would hit a layup before Hinson knocked down a free throw and assisted a Fitzgerald layup with 8:33 on the clock. Isaiah Payton stretched the lead to 17 after knocking down a deep three. Cromer snagged an offensive board and laid it back in the next possession down the court before Payton swished another triple with just under four minutes in the half. Two Fitzgerald lay ins plus a pair of free throws from Hinson gave UC the 38-23 lead heading to the locker room.
 
The Bulldogs came out of the gate hot scoring the first seven points of the second half. Fitzgerald interrupted the WU run with a strong finish in the paint but the Bulldogs weren't finished, hitting a couple of jumpers and a shot from beyond the arc to cut the UC lead to three. This awoke the Patriots as they went on a 27-8 run over the following six minutes, capped off by a Payton steal leading to a Jahi Hinson slam.
 
The senior scored the next 12 UC points as the lead stretched to 19 with 3:49 remaining. Cromer hit a three of his own followed by five more Hinson points. The last minutes was all J.J. Ramey as he hit threes in back-to-back trips down the floor, assisted a Brady Bell layup and put the exclamation point on the game with a one-hand jam. The horn sounded and UC took the game 96-70 over the Bulldogs.
 
Cumberlands will make the trip to Georgetown, KY next Tuesday for their third conference contest of the season. They will look for their first away win of the year by taking down the 8^th ranked Tigers. Gametime is set for 7:30.

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