Williamsburg, KY – The Patriots got back to their winning ways after defeating the University of Pikeville 73-64 on Saturday. UC moves to 12-7 on the year and 6-7 in conference play. The defense came up strong, forcing 17 turnovers in the contest while UC's bench outscored Pikeville's 25-9.
 
Jahi Hinson shined as he dropped 26 points, 7 reb, and 4 assists. Jadrian Flores went for 12 points, 4 boards, and 2 steals with Isaiah Payton behind him with 11 points. Steven Fitzgerald added 9 points while J.J. Ramey and Andre Silva contributed 7 and 6 points respectively.
 
Hinson got started off the tip with a jumper to give UC a quick 2-0 lead. A pair of buckets from Payton and Fitzgerald along with a lay in and free throw from Flores made it a 9-6 Patriot lead after five minutes of action. Flores stayed hot hitting a three off a nice assist from Kamari Kenemore. The Bears responded with a layup before UC knocked down another triple, this time from Ramey.
 
UPIKE went on a 15-9 run to make it a one point game with 5:48 left to play in the opening half, layups from Flores and Matt Cromer along with a Payton three made up UC's points during this run. Five straight points from Hinson and a finish in transition out of Ramey put Cumberlands up 8 with just under four minutes in the half. Pikeville would score five points before another Hinson jumper rounded out the first half of play to make the score 33-28 Patriots.
 
A Lamar Harris, Jr. steal led to a layup from Fitzgerald to get the second half underway. Hinson continued to show off his mid-range skills knocking down two jumpers in response to seven points from the Bears. The next possession saw a slam out of Silva followed by an offensive rebound and lay in for the senior transfer to put UC back up eight.
 
Pikeville outscored UC by five over the next five minutes as the score moved to 47-44 UC with 10:15 to play. This would be the closest the Bears got as Cumberlands ignited for 18 points while only allowing seven. Threes from Fitzgerald and Payton and a baseline drive and slam out of Hinson highlighted this Pats run. Cumberlands went 6-7 from the charity stripe in the final three minutes of action to put them game away and snap their five game losing streak.
 
The Patriots will travel north to Wilberforce next Thursday the 19^th as they try and get back to .500 in MSC play. Gametime is set for 7:30 PM ET.