Williamsburg, KY – The Patriots men's basketball team took down the third ranked Georgetown Tigers at home on Saturday afternoon. UC moves to 16-1 on the year and 2-0 in MSC play after defeating the Tigers for the first time since 2020.  
 
UC forced 18 turnovers and took full advantage, scoring 26 points off the Tiger miscues. The bench came up huge once again for Cumberlands, outscoring their opponents 45-23. Although UC gave up a season-high 24 offensive rebounds, they outscored GC in the paint and combined for a season-high six blocks to keep the Tigers at bay.
 
Anothony Johnson led all Patriot scorers with 21 points. DJ Jones had another great game scoring 17 points while adding five rebounds, five assists, and four steals. J.J. Ramey also finished with 17 points and grabbed four boards as well. Harry Morrice was the final Patriot in double figures and did a bit of everything on the court as he netted 14 points, five rebounds. Four blocks, three steals, and three assists.
 
The game started with a Georgetown basket followed quickly by a Jonathan Brown layup on the other end. GC went to the line for the first of many times a couple of possessions later taking a two-point advantage. The lead didn't last long as Robertas Jonaitis rattled off four straight to give UC a 6-4 lead with 16:38 on the clock.
 
Johnson knocked down a three off a Morrice steal then had another nice finish at the rim to grow the lead to seven before a couple GC buckets brought it back to within two. Johnson continued to shine with a nice steal leading to a Jonaitis tip-in followed by another steal and layup from Johnson forcing a Georgetown timeout. The Tigers fought back to regain a one-point lead with 8:21 to play in the period. This sparked a 16-0 run from the Patriots over the next five minutes as UC went back up 35-20.
 
A made GC free throw halted the run only for a second as Jones responded with a nice move to get to the rim and go back up by 16. Jones then found Brady bell on a nice baseline cut which the sophomore finished through contact for an old-school three-point play. Johnson and Ramey combined for five points with under two minutes left in the half before a Jones steal and slam got the crowd on their feet as UC extended their lead to 22. The Tigers chipped away in the closing seconds of the half but trailed 47-29 after 20 minutes of play.
 
Morrice came out of the half hot, scoring seven points off a dunk, layup, and three. Ramey added another three to push the lead to 19 after four minutes of play. Both teams went back and forth as the Pats held their lead to the 13-minute mark. Another Morrice dunk and Johnson lay in highlighted this stretch. Tensions rose as Georgetown's coach was given a technical after a Morrice blocked shot. Brown went to the line and hit one FT to make it a 65-46 Patriots lead with 12:09 remaining.
 
A Tanner Walton three stretched the lead back to 20 followed by a pair of free throws from Jones. The Tigers responded with a couple FT's on their next possession before Morrice had a strong dunk over top of an opposing player to go back up 22 points. GC scored five quick points prior to Walton's second triple in as many tries to bring the score to 77-57. Four more Georgetown points cut the Patriot lead to 16 before their coach was called for his second technical of the afternoon, and ejected from the contest.
 
The Tigers fought their way back to within 10 before a big Ramey three put UC back up 13 with two minutes to play. GC didn't go away without a fight nailing a three of their own, and forcing a Patriot turnover leading to another basket to make it 91-83 with just over a minute on the clock. Jonaitis drew a foul and went 1-2 from the charity stripe before the Tigers made another three to make it a six-point game. GC forced another steal but could not convert on the offensive end, ultimately being forced to send UC back to the free throw line. Brown made one foul shot to go back up seven with 15 seconds left. The Tigers put up another three that did not go in and sent Walton to the line. He made one of two as well to cement the 94-86 victory for Cumberlands.
 
This marks the Pats first win over Georgetown since December of 2020. The win over the third ranked Tigers is also the highest ranked opponent that UC have taken down since the same game almost four years ago, where GC was the top-ranked team in the NAIA.
 
Cumberlands look to ride this momentum into next week where they host Cumberland University on Thursday January 18^th at 7:30 PM.
 
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