McKenzie, TN – The Patriots got a big road win Thursday night as they took on the Bethel University Wildcats. UC move to 14-8 on the year and 8-8 in Mid-South play. The Patriots tied their season-high in steals with 13 while making 22 shots from the charity stripe, their second most in a game this year.
 
12 different Patriots got in the scorebook on Thursday night led by Jahi Hinson who had 22 points and 6 rebounds. Steven Fitzgerald added 12 pts while Kamari Kenmore scored 10 second-half points to round out the Pats double-figure scorers. Jadrian Flores had 8 points and added three steals accompanied by Isaiah Payton who added a season-high four steals.
 
Five different Patriots scored in the opening minutes of play as UC took a 10-6 lead. Layups from Fitzgerald and Flores started things off before Payton, Austin Hall, and Hinson each made a shot of their own. Brady Bell entered the game and knocked down a three before three straight J.J. Ramey free throws put UC up 10 with 13:41 to go in the half.
 
A Bethel lay in cut the lead to single digits before Matt Cromer scored his first points of the night with a shot behind the arc. Free throws from Fitzgerald and Lamar Harris Jr. and five straight points out of Andre Silva brought the score to 27-15 with just under nine minutes left in the first half. Another three from Bell ended a three minute scoreless streak for UC before Hinson rattled off five more points. The Wildcats netted 12 points over the remainder of the half while a jumper from Ramey made the score 37-27 after 20 minutes of play.
 
Kenemore led a 15-9 UC run to open the second half. He scored eight points to go along with four from Hinson and a made three out of Fitzgerald. Three free throws and another Cromer three pointer brought the Pats lead to 16 with 10 minutes on the clock.
 
Bethel outscored Cumberlands 11-2 over the next four minutes of play. UC responded with two more free throws from Hinson and a pair of lay-ins from Kenemore and Flores extended UC's lead back to 66-55 with 4:16 to play. The remainder of the game was all Patriots, as their lead grew to 21 before the final buzzer. Justin Sharpe made a bucket in the final minute of play to become the 12 Patriot to score in the contest. The final buzzer sounded and UC took it 81-59 on the road against Bethel.
 
Cumberlands will round out their road trip in Henderson, TN as they take on 14^th ranked Freed Hardeman. Gametime is scheduled for 4 PM ET.
 
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