Columbia, KY – The 8^th-ranked Patriots used a big first half performance and a career night from J.J. Ramey to take down Lindsey Wilson on the road Thursday at the Biggers Sports Center. UC defeated LWC 93-82, moving to 19-2 and 5-1 in MSC play.
 
Ramey netted 31 points in Columbia to lead all scorers in the contest. The senior knocked down 6 threes while also grabbing a team-high seven rebounds. Anthony Johnson added 16 points for the Pats with four rebounds and a couple of steals while DJ Jones scored 13 points and came up with four steals. Matthew Cromer rounded out UC's double-digit scorers with 11 points and six rebounds.
 
Cumberlands shot 50% from the field and from three against the Blue Raiders and went 26-36 from the charity stripe. They added 12 steals on the defense end leading to 30 points.
 
UC came out of the gate hot with a pair of Ramey triples and a Cromer layup to take an 8-2 lead and force a Blue Raider timeout. A deep two from Ramey followed by a nice pass from Jonathan Brown to Robertas Jonaitis put the Pats up 12-6 after four minutes of play. LWC scored 11 straight points to take the lead before Harry Morrice picked off a pass and found Johnson for a two-hand slam. Lindsey Wilson added a pair of FT's before Johnson knocked down a three to cut the deficit to 19-17 into the under 12 media timeout.
 
Back-to-back layups from Cromer and Johnson paired with Ramey's third three pointer of the game put Cumberlands back on top by one. Johnson continued his hot streak with another easy basket followed by a steal and slam on the fast break. LWC fought back to within one with 8:37 on the clock, but the remainder of the half was all Patriots as they outscored their opponents 27-12 over the final eight minutes.
 
Jonaitis started the run with a couple of foul shots before a Ramey dunk and another three fell to grow the lead to eight. Lindsey would score on the other end, but UC answered right back with back-to-back dunks out of Ramey and Brown. Jones made a nice move to get to the rim to extend the lead to double digits followed by a highlight put-back slam from Jonaitis to go up 12. Jones' third steal of the half led to an easy lay in with three and a half minutes to play. Cromer nailed the teams sixth three of the period one minute later, but they were not done yet as Ramey let one go from the logo the following possession for his fifth triple of the night. Two free throws each from Tajahri Cave and Jonaitis rounded out UC's run as they took a 55-39 lead into the break.
 
UC came out of the half slow, scoring just five points in the opening five minutes off another Ramey three and two free throws from Jones. UC's defense made up for the slow start as they still led the Blue Raiders 60-48. Johnson's second steal of the night set up a Jones and-one followed by a technical foul on Lindsey Wilson. Ramey went one of two from the charity stripe as UC went back up 16 with 14:25 to play.
 
Johnson was responsible for UC's next five points as the Pats held a 69-54 advantage. Jones stayed perfect at the free throw line hitting two more prior to a big three from Cave that increased the lead back to 15. The Blue Raiders did not back down as hey clawed their way back to within single digits over the next five minutes. Brown got hot at the right time, scoring five in a row, including a big and-one finish that brought the score to 82-73.
 
Lindsey hit a pair of free throws to make it a seven-point game with just over five to play. Two massive second chance efforts from Ramey and Cromer grew the Patriot lead back to 11 with 3:54 remaining. UC did not make another shot from the field on the night but ended the game 7-8 from the foul line to keep a consistent lead. The final buzzer sounded with Cumberlands on top 93-82.
 
UC earns their fifth road win of the season and claims Mid-South win number five as well. They will have a break in conference play this weekend and will host Carolina Christian back at home on Saturday. Gametime is set for 1 PM ET.
 
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