McKenzie, TN - UC men's basketball team overcame a 15-point first-half deficit and rallied in the second half to defeat Bethel 73-71 Thursday night at Crisp Arena. With the win the Patriots improve to 19-10 on the year and 13-8 in conference play while extending their win streak to six straight.
The reigning MSC Player of the Week Steven Fitzgerald picked up right where left off with a game-high 21 points on a 7-15 shooting performance and a 5-6 effort from the charity stripe. Jahi Hinson followed close behind with 16 points in the game to go along with seven rebounds. The Patriots tandem got it going in the second half as they combined for 24 points over the final 20 minutes on a 7-15 shooting line that included three made three-pointers. J.J. Ramey and Isaiah Payton also proved big in the game as both of them hit a pair of threes with Ramey finishing with 12 points while Payton recorded 10.
The contest began with the two teams playing each other close as there were three lead changes and two ties in the first four minutes. Fitzgerald acted as the offensive catalyst in the early going for UC, scoring five of their first seven points with his first three-point make coming at 16:04 left to go in the first half to make it a 7-7 game. The Wildcats then went on a 11-2 run to move their lead out to nine thanks in large part due to a 5-8 shooting effort, making it a 18-9 game with 12:41 remaining in the opening stanza. The Patriots were able to keep from falling behind by double-digits with their own stretch of hot shooting with them scoring six unanswered points to cut the deficit to three. J.J. Ramey began the run with a pair of free throws falling while Lamar Harris Jr. and Jahi Hinson hit-back-to-back paint shots to make it a 18-15 game midway through the first half.
The Wildcats responded with another run of their own to extend their lead to double figures, scoring 11 unanswered points in a two-minute span. Bethel worked their way in close to the paint and found success there more often than not with three of their five makes during the stretch being layups. At the end of the run the Wildcats were able to see their advantage balloon up to 29-15 at the 8:06 mark for their largest lead of the game. Cumberlands battled back to close out the first half on a high note and go into the locker room down only five. UC utilized a 10-2 run, over the final eight minutes of the half, including scoring eight straight to close out the half. Free throws proved big in the early part of the stretch for the Patriots as they hit four to begin the run with Payton and Ramey both knocking down one apiece while Hinson canned a pair. Hinson then made a layup with Kamari Kenemore following suit while Fitzgerald closed out the half with a 14-foot jumper to make it a 31-26 game before the break.
The Patriots came out of the locker room the more aggressive team, going on a 9-4 run to tie things up at 35-35 with 17:05 to go. Fitzgerald got the second half scoring started with a layup off the feed from Austin Hall who split a pair of free throws on the next possession. UC then hit a pair of threes as Payton and Fitzgerald both hit one to even up the score. Hinson then scored the next five points for Cumberlands to give UC a 40-38 lead, their first since the first bucket of the game. The contest was tight down the stretch as the two teams traded the lead nine different times the rest of the way. The Patriots used an inside-heavy offensive approach as the clock continued to dwindle with them making four paint shots and six free throws over the course of a nine-minute stretch. The last of those interior makes came by way of Fitzgerald who made it a 60-59 game in favor of Bethel with five minutes remaining.
UC went on a run late, scoring 11 unanswered points to reclaim the lead late and seal the win. The Patriots used timely shooting from deep to pull back in front with a trio of triples falling for Cumberlands. The first came way of Ramey with Collin Kelley coming up with his lone trey of the game at the perfect time, while Payton had the third of the threes to make it a 68-64 game with 1:58 to go. Bethel looked to pull off the comeback in the final couple of minutes, whittling down the Patriots lead to two on a pair of occasions. That was as close as they could get, though, as some timely made free throws from Ramey and Fitzgerald helped close the book on this one to give Cumberlands the road win.
UC will look for lucky number seven in their regular season finale on Saturday when they travel to take on Freed-Hardeman with tip-off set for 5:00 p.m.
For the latest information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter- @UC_Patriots and @UCPatsGameday, Instagram- @UCPatriots, Youtube- Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.
