North Kentucky News

UC Takes Win over Alice Lloyd 78-56

UC took on the Eagles of Alice Lloyd Friday afternoon in their own tournament, the Cumberlands Classic. The Patriots got their fourth straight win of the year, moving to 4-0 on the season with a final score of 78-56.
 
Senior Jahi Hinson continued to lead the offense as he was the Pats leading scorer for the fourth game in a row. Hinson netted 22 points with 5 rebounds and 2 assists on the day. UC's offense also got a solid performance from Steven Fitzgerald as he saw his first action of the year. The Somerset, KY native tallied 20 points and 6 rebounds, going 7-9 from the charity stripe. J.J. Ramey was the other Patriot in double figures on Friday, scoring 10 points. Lamar Harris Jr. made waves on both sides of the ball with 5 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 of the Patriots 13 steals on the day.
 
Cumberlands came out of the gate hot, scoring the first six points of the game from a trio of jumpers from Hinson, Fitzgerald, and Jadrian Flores. UC continued to play great defense holding the Eagles to just 10 points in the opening 12 minutes of play. A Lamar Harris Jr. slam gave UC the 22-10 advantage with 8:06 remaining, their biggest lead of the half.
 
The next three minutes of play were scoreless from both sides, before an Eagle layup cut the lead to 10. Both teams traded buckets, with Hinson scoring the next six Patriot points. A Flores three pointer extended UC's lead to nine with just over a minute remaining. This would be the final score of the half, giving Cumberlands the 31-22 lead after 20 minutes of play.
 
 The second half started with a bang as Hinson caught an Isaiah Payton lob and finished with the jam. Two buckets from Alice Lloyd made it a seven point game with 18:24 left to go. Ramey responded with a huge three pointer, followed by a steal and dunk of his own as well. The next possession down the court saw a Payton steal and layup in transition to double their lead to 14. A 7-1 Eagle run brought the score to 41-33 with just under 15 minutes remaining.
 
Fitzgerald responded with nine points over the next four minutes of play. Four free throws from Hinson and Flores along with a pair of threes from Ramey and Austin Hall increased the lead to 20. With six minutes to go the Patriots defense caused an Eagle turnover followed by another dunk from Lamar Harris. Brady Bell hit his second three of the night with three minutes remaining, followed by a Fitzgerald layup for his 20th point of the game. UC finished the game on a high note as Justin Sharp caused a turnover, leading to a Ramey alley oop slam assisted by Matt Cromer. The buzzer sounded as the Pats took their first game of the Cumberlands Classic 78-56.
 
UC will play their final game of this tournament tomorrow, Saturday the 12th at 4 PM ET. They will take on the WVU Tech Golden Bears. 

Original source can be found here.