Williamsburg, KY – The Patriots survived the NAIA National Tournament First Round game on their home floor Friday afternoon. #2 Cumberlands took down the 15^th seeded Philander Smith Panthers in a 97-96 shootout to advance to the NAIA First & Second Round championship game tomorrow night.
 
UC had four players finish with double figures and added 54 points in the paint against PSU. Cumberlands got to the charity stripe on a regular basis, going 25-35 just one shy of the most makes and attempts this season. Anthony Johnson led the Pats with 24 points and added 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Jonathan Brown went for 23 points and two assists while Harry Morrice tallied his second double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 boards. DJ Jones rounded out UC's double-digit scorers with 16 pts, 5 ast, 4 reb, and 3 stl, going 8-9 from the foul line. Matthew Cromer did a little bit of everything for UC on the day with 9 pts, 7 reb, 5 ast, and 3 stl. J.J. Ramey also added nine points.
 
The Panthers scored the first the baskets of the game before a Ramey triple and two free throws on straight possession put UC on top. The Panthers regained the lead before Jones found Ramey for an alley-oop slam off the inbound, giving Ramey all seven of the Patriots points. A Cromer steal led to an easy bucket on the other end followed by a pair of FT's from Jones and a big Morris slam to tie the game after a couple PSU baskets. Both teams continued to go back and forth before a Cromer triple gave UC a 20-17 lead with 13:02 in the half.
 
After forcing a Panther turnover, the Pats responded with an and-one from Brown to give them a six-point advantage. Philander Smith responded with 11 straight points to go up five, their biggest lead of the night. A jumper from Brown halted the run before a huge fastbreak slam from Johnson swung the momentum in Cumberlands favor. Another two out of Johnson, accompanied by seven straight points from Brown gave UC the lead once again with 6:39 to play. A Cromer free throw put UC up two before two straight Panther buckets put PSU back on top.
 
Robertas Jonaitis got his first bucket of the day off a nice assist from Brown to make it 39-39 with just over five minutes in the period. Johnson led the Patriots office the remainder of the half with six of the team's 10 points. He added another nice dunk along with an and-one and two free throws. Ramey added a layup and Morrice scored the final basket of the half with 24 seconds on the clock to give UC a 49-48 lead into the locker room.
 
The second half started with a pair of Jones lay ins to give UC a three-point lead. Brown added a layup and another triple to move the score to 58-52 in favor of the Pats. Both teams traded scores, as Johnson added his third dunk of the night and Morrice had another nice finish in the paint along with a pair of free throws. PSU added a pair of FT's of their own prior to a deep three from Johnson and a strong finish through contact from Morrice. He tacked on the backend of the and-one to stretch UC's lead to 11, their largest of the night, with 11:55 remaining.
The Panthers answered back with an 11-2 run to bring the game back to within two. Johnson continued to shine on offense, scoring a layup and draining three shots from the charity stripe after being fouled on a shot behind the arc. A Morrice FT and another and-one, this time from Jones, grew UC's lead back to nine with 7:35 to play.
 
The following five minutes saw both teams go back and forth, neither pulling any closer or further away. Brown added six points over this stretch while Cromer nailed his second three of the game. With 2:49 on the clock, Philander Smith started to claw their way back, scoring six-straight to make it 90-82 UC. Jones found Morrice for a slam in transition to gain some momentum back in UC's favor. After two PSU FT's, jones made another nice assist to Johnson and added a free throw of his own to raise UC's lead to five with under a minute to play.
 
The Panthers did not give up, hitting an and-one of their own with 31 seconds left to bring the game within two. Jones got to the foul line the next possession and hit both to make it a two-possession game. Cromer notched his third steal of the night the next trip down the court and drew a foul with 12 seconds. The junior missed both and the Panthers took advantage, draining a deep three to pull back within one with six seconds left. UC inbounded the ball and got it all the way up the floor to Morrice before being fouled, sending him to the line with a 97-96 lead with just over a second on the clock. Morrice missed the first before head coach Matt Daniel called a timeout. Morrice came back to the line and missed the second free throw on purpose, forcing a full-court heave from PSU that did not meet its mark, giving UC the one-point 97-96 victory to advance to the next round.
 
Cumberlands will take on the seventh seeded Falcons of Florida College who earned an 84-71 victory over the tenth seed Marian. Tip-off is set for 6 PM ET with the winner advancing to the NAIA Final Site in Kansas City, MO.
 
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