Williamsburg, KY – The Patriots hosted Campbellsville University for the opening round of the Mid-South Conference tournament on Tuesday night. UC fell behind early and could not mount a comeback, losing 55-71 to the Tigers. Cumberlands had their worst shooting performance of the year, going 20-63 (31.7%) from the field. This ends UC's chances of a MSC Title this season.
 
Senior Steven Fitzgerald tallied his second double-double of the year, dropping 17 points and 13 rebounds. Jahi Hinson added 10 points and 6 rebounds while Isaiah Payton had 10 pts, 3 reb, and 3 ast.
 
The Tigers came out firing on all cylinders as they outscored UC 26-9 over the first ten minutes of play. The Patriots only buckets came from Hinson and J.J. Ramey along with a pair of Payton free throws. Back-to-back buckets from Hinson, along with Fitzgerald's first three points of the night and a Brady Bell three cut the lead to single digits with 4:49 on the clock. Austin Hall knocked down a three for his only points of the game followed by a nice Payton finish at the rim to make it 34-24 at the half.
 
Fitzgerald came out of the half with eight straight points, including consecutive threes, to cut the Tiger lead to four. Campbellsville responded with six points in a row before a Hinson lay-in brought it back to an eight point game. This was the closest UC would get for the remainder of the game, as the Tigers went on a 15-5 run to go up by 18 with 9:04 left.
 
UC could not mount a comeback over the final nine minutes, dropping to the Tigers 55-71.The remainder of the game saw seven points from Jadrian Flores to lead all UC scorers over this time. Payton and Ramey hit a layup each while Fitzgerald had four to round out UC's scorers.
 
Cumberlands are knocked out of the MSC Tourney and await the NAIA National Tournament Selection Show to see if they earn an at-large bid to the national tournament.
 
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