Williamsburg, KY – The Patriots lit up the scoreboard at home on Elementary Day, defeating the Midway University Eagles 118-93. UC dominated the glass outrebounding the Eagles 51 to 27 and added 16 offensive boards that led to 20 second-chance points. Cumberlands found major success in the paint as well, scoring 76 of their 118 points down low. The Pats move to 10-4 on the season.
Six different Patriots finished in double figures on Wednesday led by
Anthony Johnson who went for 26 pts, three ast, two reb, and two stl.
Harry Morrice and
Matthew Cromer both earned double-doubles as Morrice ended with 16 points, a career-high 12 boards, two assists and two blocks while Cromer added 13 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
Robertas Jonaitis gave the Pats a spark off the bench with a 19-point and eight rebound performances while
Brady Bell knocked down three triples and finished with 11 points.
Anthony Harris was the final Patriot in double-figures as he scored 10 points and grabbed six boards in debut as a Patriot.
The Eagles struck first to open the game before Johnson knocked down a three on UC's first offensive possession. Cromer added a layup in transition prior to a Morrice slam off a nice pass from Johnson. Midway responded and took a two-point lead before Cromer found Bell for his first triple of the afternoon. A pair of made free throws out of Morrice saw UC take the 12-9 lead after four minutes of play. Johnson's second three kept UC on top before a big offensive rebound from Harris led to a slam for his first points of the season. Another Bell three and two more free throws, this time from Johnson brought the score to 22-19 UC, with 13 minutes left to play.
MU did not back down, tying the game two-minutes later before
Tajahri Cave made a nice move and got to the rim for a layup. After another Eagle make,
Tanner Walton led the charge down the floor before finding Morrice for an easy layup to give UC the lead once again. Both teams continued to trade the lead, with Midway going up by as much as four before an and-one from
DJ Jones and buckets from Cromer and Jonaitis took the lead right back. UC's big dominated the final stretch of the half, as Morrice and
Ryan Davidson each added a bucket to go along with nine Jonaitis points, capped off by a huge slam over top of a Midway defender to close the half with the Pats leading 52-46.
Bell opened the second half with a three off a find from Jones who then added two more points the next possession to increase the lead to 11. UC held the lead with a nice layup from Bell off the Cromer assist, and another big dunk, this time from Jones to Morrice. Baskets from Cromer and Morrice kept the Patriot lead at double digits before a Jonaitis offensive rebound and put-back saw the lead grow to 12. The next trip down the floor, Cromer picked the pocket of an Eagle offender, leading to another Jonaitis slam. Cromer followed with a bucket of his own as the Patriots went up 14 with 14 minutes to play.
The Eagles cut their deficit to 10 before back-to-back and-ones out of Johnson stretched the lead back out to 14. A nice mid-range jumper from Harris made it 84—69 followed by three straight FT from Jones and Johnson gave UC the 17-point advantage. A big block from Morrice led to a fastbreak slam from Harris as UC continued to dominate. The lead grew to 22 behind Johnson's third triple of the game.
Barek Williams got in on the scoring with an easy lay off an assist from Cave. A pair of FT's from Davidson and another smooth jumper out of Harris capped off the victory, 118-93.
Cumberlands move to 10-4 on the season and 6-1 at home this year. They will be back after Christmas to take on Union Commonwealth in Barbourville, KY on Dec. 30
th at 4 PM ET.
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