Dalton, GA – The Patriots went on the road to take on Dalton State College and finished with another tough loss, 88-80. UC committed a season-high 17 turnovers and were also outscored in the paint 54-38. Cumberlands move to 9-3 on the year.
DJ Jones led UC's scorers with 20 pts, 4 reb, and 2 ast, scoring 17 points in the second half. Anthony Johnson added 18 points and seven rebounds while Matthew Cromer recorded his fourth straight double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. Brady Bell chipped in 11 points, all coming in the first half, while Robertas Jonaitis netted 10 points to round out the Patriots in double figures.
The Roadrunners won the opening tip and jumped out to a 7-2 lead over the first two minutes of play. A bucket from Johnson made it 7-4 before both teams went scoreless until the 16-minute mark. This stretch saw a Cromer steal and a nice block from Harry Morrice on the defensive end. Four more DSC points ended the drought before Cromer netted his second bucket of the game. Morrice followed the next trip down the court with an offensive rebound and put back to bring the score to 14-8. Back-to-back triples from Bell tied things up before Cromer knocked down a jumper to give the Pats their first lead of the game with 13:46 to play in the first.
After a DSC timeout the Roadrunners tied the game, but UC answered right back with a another offensive rebound that led to an and one, this time from Tanner Walton. Johnson put the Pats up five with a nice move in the lane and caught an alley-oop from Jones for a slam a couple possessions later to keep the five-point advantage. Dalton State responded with a seven-point run to regain the lead before a Cromer three put the Pats back on top. After another scoreless period that brought the clock to under seven, Jonaitis got the team on their feet with a huge dunk over top of a DSC defender. Two more baskets from Johnson and Bell increased the lead to seven, their largest of the half. Bell knocked down his third three of the half to keep the lead at seven before a Dalton State run brought it back to a one-possession game with under two minutes in the half. Jones ended the half with a deep three as time expired for his first points of the game, giving UC a 45-40 lead at halftime.
DSC outscored the Pats 10-5 over the opening three minutes of the second half to even the game at 50-50. Jones scored three points over this stretch from the charity stripe to go along with a Jonaitis finish in the paint. The next two minutes were all Dalton State, as they took a seven-point lead before three straight points from Johnson and a mid-range pull up from Tajahri Cave brought UC within two. The Roadrunners stretched their lead back to six prior to a Cromer three to make it a one score game with just over 10 minutes to play.
A pair of FT's from Johnson and four more Jones points over the next three minutes put UC back on top. Jones continued to lead the offensive charge, scoring the next two trips up the floor to hold their one point lead with 5:34 on the clock. DSC then went on a 11-2 run to take an eight-point lead with less than three minutes to go. Another Jones jumper accounted for the only UC points during this stretch. Jonaitis halted the run after drawing a foul and knocking down both free throw attempts. Another bucket out of Jones made it 82-78 but the Roadrunners quickly lengthened their lead back to seven over the next two possessions. Jones scored his 20th point of the game with 37 seconds on the clock to bring UC within six, but that was not enough as the final buzzer sounded with Cumberlands dropping the contest 88-80.
The Patriots will be back at home for the first time in over two weeks as they host the University of Rio Grande. Tip-off is set for 1 PM ET on Saturday the 7th in the O. Wayne Rollins Center and Randy Vernon Court.
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