Dayton, TN – The 12^th ranked Patriots closed out 2023 with a solid victory against Bryan College on the road Saturday evening. UC took the 93-85 win, moving to 13-1 on the season.
 
A pair of season-best performances helped lift the Pats over the Lions. J.J. Ramey netted a career-high 29 points, the most of any Patriot this season, while grabbing a team-high eight rebounds also. Ramey finished the game 11-14 from the floor, knocking down four threes all in the first half. DJ Jones did a little bit of everything for the Pats on Saturday scoring 19 points, dishing out a season-high 9 assists while adding seven boards and three steals as well. Jonathan Brown added 14 pts, 5 ast, and 4 reb while Matthew Cromer went for 13 points and three rebounds.
 
The Pats jumped out to an early one-point lead after both Ramey and Cromer knocked down a triple. The lions would hit a three of their own to retake the lead before Robertas Jonaitis hit a pair of FT's to even the score at 8-8. Two more Lion baskets put them up five, but UC responded with a layup from Cromer and a Jones steal and score to bring it back to a one-possession game. Two Bryan foul shots gave them a 12-15 lead with 13:39 on the clock.
 
UC dominated the following six minutes as they outscored the Lions 22-2 to take a 17-point lead. Ramey started the run with five straight points before Brown and Brady Bell added five more. The trio would make one more layup each prior to another Ramey three and Jones' first triple of the game to bring the score to 34-17 with just under eight minutes to go in the half.
 
The Lions fought back to within seven over the remainder of the period. Ramey continued his hot half, knocking down his fourth three and adding a nice dunk and pair of layups to go with it. He ended the half with 24 points on 9-9 shooting, 4-4 from deep. Jones also added four more points for UC and had six assists at the half as well. Cumberlands took a 47-40 lead to the break.
 
Both teams traded scores out of the half, with Jonaitis hitting a pair of layups and Cromer knocking down a jumper. UC increased their lead to 12 off back-to-back threes from Jones. The Pats held steady with a 12-point lead behind two more threes from Brown and Tanner Walton. The Lions knocked down a triple of their own to bring their deficit down to single digits with just over 12 minutes remaining.
 
Bryan continued to claw their way back going on a 17-6 run, bringing the score to 73-72 in UC's favor. Ramey ended the streak with his 29^th point of the night, pushing the lead to three. Cromer notched a steal that led to a layup to go along with a mid-range jumper from Brown to go up six. Jones hit four straight FT's and a nice layup with a little over one minute remaining to push the lead to seven. The Lions did not go away quietly, hitting a three and a pair of foul shots to make the score 87-85. This was the closest they would come as a Jonathan Brown dunk and four made free throws secured the victory for UC 93-85.
 
The Patriots will return to their home court Thursday, January 4^th to open the 2024 portion of their schedule. Game time is at 11 AM and it is Elementary Day, where local elementary schools will bring their students to support the Pats.
 
For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics. Please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter- @UC_Patriots and @UCPatsGameday, Instagram- @UCPatriots, TikTok- @ucpatriots, Youtube- Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.