Williamsburg, KY - After taking down Thomas More to cap of last week, the Patriots begin the new one on a high note as well with a 72-57 win over Pikeville Monday night on Randy Vernon Court. The Patriots went on a run down the stretch of the first half to help them gain a double-digit lead and they never looked back as they have now won three straight and improved their record to 16-10 overall and 10-8 in conference play.
For the 12th time this season, Jahi Hinson led the way in points for UC, scoring a game-high 22 in the contest. Hinson was an efficient 9-18 from the field in the game while adding five boards and a trio of assists to his line also. He was joined in double figures by Lamar Harris Jr. who had 13 points with 11 of them coming in the first half, and Isaiah Payton who recorded 10. Steven Fitzgerald tallied a double-double with 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
The game started out even with the two teams never being separated by more than six points through the first 13 minutes of action. The two teams continued to trade buckets with the first half winding down as there were four ties in the frame. The Patriots once again looked to work the ball inside with seven of their first nine shots coming in the paint, helping give UC a slim 22-19 with 7:23 to go. Cumberlands began to find their rhythm on both sides of the ball in the final seven minutes of the first half, going on a 14-2 run to take a 36-21 lead into halftime. Isaiah Payton began the strong stretch with a layup and he was followed by the dynamic duo of Hinson and Harris Jr. who combined for the next 12 Patriot points with Hinson registering eight of them on a mid-range make, an and-one, and his lone three-pointer of the game. Cumberlands' defense also proved big during the run as they held the Bears to a 1-11 shooting effort to give UC a comfortable lead at the break.
Pikeville came out of the locker room looking to get back into this one and were able to make things interesting, whittling down the Patriots lead to 11 a handful of time early in the second half. UC was able to keep the game from getting any close than that, though, as they kept their lead in double-digits for the majority of the second half. The Bears made it a 49-38 game with 11:46 to go and looked prime to begin their comeback, but Cumberlands turned them away and grew their lead back out to as much as 17. Six quick unanswered points for UC off a trio of paint shots helped them once again hold a convincing advantage. The first of the three makes came off a J.J. Ramey layup from a feed from Fitzgerald followed by a lob dunk on the Austin Hall-to-Hinson connection while Payton threw one down himself after grabbing the break away steal, making it 55-38 with 10:12 remaining.
Pikeville once again threatened to make things interesting as they had cut the deficit to single-digits with four minutes remaining with the Patriots lead standing at 63-54. That was as close as they would get, though, with UC going on a 9-2 run to close out the game. Hinson began the final stretch of solid play for Cumberlands with a jumper and a dunk. Fitzgerald then followed up his teammate's efforts with the final five points of the night for the Patriots on a pair of made free throws and a triple that gave him double-double number four on the season and sealing the win for UC.
The Patriots will look to make it four straight in their next contest with them set to host Cumberland University on Thursday, February 10th, with tip-off set for 8:00 p.m.
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