Kingsport, TN – The Patriots continued their impressive season with a come from behind victory against the West Virginia Tech Golden Bears at The Show. UC stretched their win-streak to 10 games on the year.
Anthony Johnson led the Pats with 22 points on 8-13 shooting from the field while
Matthew Cromer added 13 points and a team-high 8 boards.
Jonathan Brown,
DJ Jones, and
J.J. Ramey added nine points a piece as well.
Cumberlands came out of the gate cold from the field, making their first FG with just over 12 minutes on the clock. The Golden Bears built a 14-4 lead over this opening seven minutes, with UC's only points coming from Brown and Jones at the charity stripe. A Jonaitis lay in accounted for UC's first field goal followed by a
Tajahri Cave made foul shot. The Pats continued their scoring with back-to-back threes from Johnson followed by a
Tanner Walton triple that gave them the 16-14 advantage with 10:13 to play in the first.
The Patriots weren't done yet as a Ramey three pointer sparked a 19-5 run over the remainder of the half that put them ahead 41-29. Five straight points from Cromer, a Brown and-one, and threes from Brown and Johnson started the streak, followed by a signature back door lob to Ramey who capped the half off with a slam.
Both teams traded baskets at the start of the second period, with a Johnson jumper pushing the UC lead to 13. WVU Tech closed the gap to six with 12 minutes to play before Walton nailed his second three of the game to push the lead back to nine. A pair of FT's from the Golden Bears made it 57-50, but this would be the closest they would get as a Jones three and another strong finish by Jonaitis grew the UC lead to 12. The Patriots did not look back, outscoring their opponent 19-12 over the final seven minutes, earning their tenth straight win of the season.
UC will travel home and have one day of rest before getting back on the bus to Indiana where they will take on Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. Gametime is set for 7:30.
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