Barbourville, KY – The Patriots dominated long-time rival, Union Commonwealth University in Barbourville, KY Monday evening. UC moves to 11-4 on the year after the 86-55 blowout over the Bulldogs as they sweep the season series. Cumberlands earned 12 steals and six blocks with their high-pressure defense, and also hit nine threes on 42.9% from beyond the arc.  
 
Anthony Johnson led all UC scorers with 18 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Matthew Cromer added 14 pts, 6 reb, and 1 stl while Anthony Harris and Davidson both chipped in 10 points apiece. Harris finished with three blocks and a pair of rebounds while DJ Jones also filled the statsheet with 6 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl, and 1 blk.
 
Harry Morrice drew a foul and hit a free throw for the first points of the game before Robertas Jonaitis drove through the lane for a huge slam to put UC up 3-2. A quick steal led to an easy layup for Cromer in transition followed by a Johnson triple that increased the lead to eight. The Patriots defense continued to force bad shots leading to a Morrice bucket in the paint and a nice finish rom Jonaitis, both assisted by Jones. A pair of free throws from Johnson made it 14-2 after just four minutes of play.
 
The Pats continued to put pressure on the UCU offense, holding them scoreless for over five minutes total. Brady Bell entered the game for UC and nailed a triple off a drive and dish from Jones, who also found Morrice with a full court pass in transition for another easy lay and his fourth assist of the game. Harris joined in on the scoring, drawing a foul and hitting one FT, making it 20-4 with 14:38 remaining.
 
Cumberlands' full court pressure continued to force UCU turnovers as Jones took possession leading to a Cromer tip-in finish. The London, Ky native followed with a triple to extend the pats lead to 17. More free throws from Morrice and Jonaitis kept the Patriots lead before Jones splashed a three to stretch the lead to 19. An alley-oop from Johnson to Harris saw the lead grow to over 20. UCU cut their deficit after a three before buckets from Davidson and Johnson pushed UC's lead back over 20. Harris's second block of the contest continued the dominant defensive effort from UC and led to a pair of makes from the charity stripe out of Harris as well. The final three minutes saw buckets out of Davidson and Jonaitis and two more FT's from Johnson ended the half with UC on top 45-23.
 
Union went on a 10-4 run to open the second half, with UC's only points coming from Cromer. The Pats halted the run with a huge slam from Jonaitis in transition off a nice pass from Johnson. An and-one from Johnson the next trip down the floor put UC back up by 22 with under 15 minutes to play. The Bulldogs pulled within 11 over the next three minutes, before another Bell triple stopped the run. A nice finish from Jones and two more free throws from Johnson pushed the lead back to 18. A Cromer three put UC up 21 with 10 minutes to play.
 
The final six minutes of play were all UC as back-to-back threes from Harris and Johnson continued UC's dominant effort. 12-straight UC points saw their lead grow to 33 with baskets from Bell, Davidson, Morrice, and Tajahri Cave. Davidson added four more points before throwing a lob to Harris who capped the night off with a reverse alley-oop slam. The final buzzer sounded with the Pats taking the victory, 86-55.
 
Cumberlands will be back in action on Thursday as they travel south to Knoxville, TN to take on Johnson University at 1 PM ET.
 
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