Kingsport, TN - The Patriots used a late run to take down the Red Wolves of IU East Saturday afternoon at The Show tournament 83-76. UC snagged a season-high 23 offensive rebounds and outscored IUE 21-6 on second chance points.
DJ Jones led UC with 24 points and 10 rebounds, both season highs, while Jonathan Brown added 22 points going 10-12 from the charity stripe. Matthew Cromer had nine points and 9 boards with Robertas Jonaitis grabbing nine rebounds as well.
Jones started the game with a quick jumper to give UC the first points of the game. IU East came back and scored five straight to take the lead. A three from Cromer along with a Jonaitis layin switched the game back in UCs's favor, but not for long as IUSE went back up 9-8 with 16:17 on the clock. Another basket from Cromer and four straight points from Tanner Walton put UC up three. Anthony Johnson joined in on the scoring knocking down a triple while Walton scored his seventh point in two minutes off a nice Tajahri Cave pass. Johnson continued the Pats scoring streak with a strong finish after grabbing a pair of offensive boards to put the Pats up 22-13 with 12:27 left in the half.
The Red Wolves cut their deficit to just six before J.J. Ramey and Brown scored their first points of the half to increase the lead to double digits. Brown would score UC's next five points to keep their lead at 12 with just over five minutes remaining in the half. IU East didn't back down, outscoring Cumberlands 20-9 over the remainder of the half to make it a one point game in UC's favor.
Jones started the second half similarly to the first, scoring another basket and grabbing two more offensive rebounds before a second layup. The Red Wolves tied the game with 15:28 to play before taking their first lead of the second half right after. The game was tied once again at 55-55 before IU East went on a 7-2 run they gave them their biggest lead of the contest.
The Patriots battled back to regain their lead off of 10-straight DJ Jones points. An IUE bucket evened the score once again before a big slam from Ramey put UC on top once again. This sparked a 10-2 Patriots run over the final three minutes of play as Cumberlands took the win 83-76.
The Patriots will try and remain perfect on the year as they face off with WVU Tech tomorrow evening at 4:15.
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