Williamsburg, KY – The Patriots outlasted the Florida College Falcons on their home court Saturday night to advance to the NAIA Final Site for the first time in the Matt Daniel era. UC took the contest 80-69 to move to the round of 16 for the first time since 2015.
  J.J. Ramey led all scorers with 24 points, five boards and three assists. Anthony Johnson added 22 points, 4 assists, and 2 rebounds off the bench. Jonathan Brown was the final Patriot to end the night in double-figures finishing with 16 pts, 9 reb, and 2 steals.  Harry Morrice also grabbed nine rebounds and blocked five shots as well. He led the surge for the Patriots defense, who held the Falcons to just 3-23 from beyond the arc.
 
Both teams were stuck in a stalemate over the first five minutes of play. Five points from Matthew Cromer and two from both Ramey and Brown made it 9-9. The Falcons then went on a 15-5 run to take a ten-point lead, their largest lead of the game. Johnson responded with 10 points of his own in the next three minutes along with an and-one from Brown to give the lead back to the Patriots with 7:43 remaining in the period. 
 
Florida College fought to make it 31-27 in their favor before a Ramey triple made it a one-point game. Baskets from Ramey and Brown and a massive three from Morrice gave UC a 37-35 advantage with 2:02 left. Ramey added a nice mid-range jumper then finished an alley-oop from Johnson to grow their lead to six. Two FC free throws in the final seconds brought the score to 41-37 at the half.
 
The second half started with a Robertas Jonaitis dunk off a nice backdoor find from Brown. Florida College came back with a tip-in the following possession before DJ Jones made a nice move in the paint for his first points of the game. Two triples from Ramey and Johnson kept UC's lead at four with just under 12 minutes left in the contest. The Falcons fought to within one multiple times in the next four minutes, but UC answered right back every time. Four straight Brown FTs increased the Patriots lead to 58-53 with 7:34 to play.
 
Cumberlands held their five-point advantage up to the 3:12 mark before a pair of jumpers from Ramey and a three from Brown increased the lead to eight. Two more free throws put UC up 74-64. The final six points all came at the charity stripe for the Patriots, who finished the night 19-23 from the line. The final buzzer sounded as UC took an 80-69 victory to move on to the next round of the NAIA National Tournament.
 
Coach Daniel was proud of his team's effort tonight saying "I'm really excited for our guys and the work that they put in. To get to accomplish something as special as this is just a testament to not only our guys, but the school and athletic department as a whole and the commitment they've made for our program."  
Cumberlands will make the trip to Kansas City, MO for the first time since 2019. They will take on the #3 seed Morningside in their first game at the final site. This marks the first time these two teams have played each other.
 
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