Williamsburg, KY – The Patriots offense was firing on all cylinders Saturday afternoon in route to a 105-87 victory on Senior Day. Cumberlands took down Cumberland University in their final home game of the season, moving to 19-7 on the season, and 8-2 in Mid-South Conference play.
A trio of Patriots combined for 78 of their 105 points on the day. Matthew Cromer, who set his career high in points in the first game against CU this season, went for a new career best of 32 points, while adding 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. Anthony Johnson added 27 points, five assists, and three boards while Anthony Harris finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. DJ Jones rounded out the Patriots in double figures with 10 pts, 3 reb, and 3 ast.
Harris scored UC's first bucket of the game followed by a triple and another layup from Johnson to make the score 7-7. Johnson then found Cave in the corner for a three to give them a three-point lead. Three more buckets from Harris kept UC up by three. Cromer then added his first five points of the game, along with a Ryan Davidson lay in that extended the lead to 25-20 with just over 12 minutes left in the half.
Back-to-back dunks from Morrice put UC up by seven before the Phoenix went on a 11-0 run to take a four-point lead. Cromer stopped the run with a three before finding Harris the next possession for an alley-oop slam. Three more points from Davidson, and Jones first basket of the night saw UC take a 41-37 lead with 1:39 to play. After two CU baskets, Cromer grabbed a rebound ad took the ball the length of the court for a nice lay. With less than five seconds on the clock, Robertas Jonaitis grabbed a Phoenix miss and found Johnson up the court. Johnson then made a nice pass to Cromer, who beat the buzzer with an easy layup, putting UC ahead 45-40 at the break.
The Phoenix came out of the half with two threes in a row to reclaim the lead. Harris answered back with another basket in the paint before a Harry Morrice block led to a Johnson triple on the other end. A couple possessions later, Morrice grabbed an offensive rebound, finding Jonaitis for a smooth jumper in the paint. Morrice continued to dominate the paint, grabbing another rebound then finding Johnson in transition for a slam. CU battled back to tie the game with 12:23 on the clock before Cromer and Johnson knocked down back-to-back triples to take a 66-60 advantage. Jones added a three after a CU basket, then broke down his defender the next possession, finding Harris soaring towards the rim for another alley-oop slam.
Another lay in from Johnson put UC up nine, their largest lead of the night thus far. Two more triples from Harris and Johnson put UC up 79-69 for their first double-digit lead of the game. Four more Cromer points and a reverse lay in from Davidson put UC up 14 with just over six minutes to play. The remainder of the game was all Cumberlands, as Cromer scored 13 points and exited to a massive cheer from the UC faithful in his last regular season game on Randy Vernon Court. Jones added five late points to lift UC over the century mark, as the Patriots took the victory 105-87.
UC will conclude their regular season next week with a trip to Tennessee where they will take on the fourth-ranked Lions of Freed Hardeman on Thursday, and Bethel University the following Saturday.
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