New Albany, IN – The 12^th ranked Patriots saw their first bout of overtime action this season and could not get over the hump as they dropped their first game of the season to Indiana University Southeast 100-95. UC move to 12-1 as they head into winter break.
 
Cumberlands went just 6-24 from deep and were out rebounded 52-34 in the overtime loss. Anthony Johnson led UC's scorers with 24 points while adding seven boards. Jonathan Brown added 17 points and eight assists and DJ Jones netted 16 points as well. Robertas Jonaitis and J.J. Ramey contributed 13 points each. Matthew Cromer snagged a team-high nine rebounds and was one of two Pats who fouled out of the game. Jones had five fouls as well.
 
Jonaitis started the game with a nice alley-oop to Ramey followed by a layup and a free throw to take an early lead. A pair of layups from Cromer and Brown made it 9-6 after the opening four minutes of play. IUSE came out of a timeout and scored six points to take the lead before a Brady Bell triple and four more points from Jonaitis gave UC the lead right back. The Grenadiers evened the score at 18-18, but the Pats hit a couple of layups and a free throw to take the 23-20 lead with 9:22 in the half.
 
IUSE nailed a three to tie the game once again. Both teams went back and forth over the next three minutes before a Ramey FT and a three from Jones off the fastbreak put UC back up by four. Ramey caught fire the final five minutes of the period, scoring eight points to give UC a 41-36 lead into the half.
 
Both teams traded baskets over the opening eight minutes of the second half as UC had a consistent five-point lead. A bucket from Jones put Cumberlands up seven with just under 11 minutes to play. Indiana Southeast bounced back with a couple made shots of their own before a nice finish through contact from Brown put UC back up 60-54 into the under-12 media timeout.
 
IUSE battled back to make it a two-point game prior to a deep three from Johnson to extend it back to five. UC held this lead until the three-minute mark when IUSE went on a 11-3 run to take their first lead of the half with 1:08 to play. A slam from Brown tied the game at 81-81. A UC foul sent the Grenadiers to the foul line where they hit one of two, giving UC the ball with 20 seconds down one. Jones drew a foul after making a strong move to get to the rim. The junior knocked down both to take an 83-82 lead with nine seconds. IUSE inbounded the ball and drew a foul on Jones, his fifth, to get back to the charity stripe. The Grenadier made one of two to send the game into overtime.
 
Indiana Southeast jumped out to a three-point lead to start OT before Johnson got to the rim for a quick response. Four more IUSE points increased their lead to five with 2:55 on the clock. Brown answered again with another nice finish to decrease their deficit to three. Both teams traded baskets on five-straight possessions, as UC still trailed by three with a minute left in the overtime period. A three late in the following Grenadier possession put them up seven and put the game out of reach for the Pats. Johnson got to the rim for a dunk in the final 10 seconds, but the final buzzer sounded with UC dropping their first game of the season 100-95.
 
Cumberlands will be off until the 30^th of December when they till travel to Dayton, TN to take on Bryan College.
 
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