North Kentucky News

UC Fall to Cumberland University

The Patriots dropped their second game of the week, this time to Cumberland University who took the contest 79-70. UC move to 11-4 on the season and 5-4 in MSC play to round out the 2022 portion of their schedule.

 

Senior Jahi Hinson put together another impressive performance, finishing with 22 pts and 7 rebs. Steven Fitzgerald netted 14 points and 4 boards while J.J. Ramey scored 13 pts and added 4 rebounds as well. Andre Silva once again led the Patriots on the glass snagging 8 rebounds to go with his 6 points.

 

Silva started the night with a dunk off an Isaiah Payton pick-and-roll to give UC the first lead of the game. CU rattled off seven straight points before Fitzgerald knocked down his first triple of the night. A Phoenix layup put them up by four before a Fitzgerald jumper and two free throws from Austin Hall tied it up at 9-9 with 13:30 in the half.

 

Two Ramey slams, including an alley-oop off an inbound, and a three from Hinson put UC up 16-11with just under 10 minutes to play. Cumberlands were held scoreless for the next four minutes while the Phoenix netted nine points to regain the lead. A Silva jumper ended this streak with 5:23 on the clock to cut their deficit to two. CU outscored the Pats 10-8 to finish the half taking a 30-26 lead into the locker room.

 

The Phoenix scored five points in the first minute of the second half to increase their lead to nine. Hinson halted the run with a jumper of his own before CU knocked down a three to lift their lead to double digits. A pair of triples from Fitzgerald and Hinson along with multiple strong defensive possessions cut Cumberland U's lead to just six with 14:30 to play. CU responded with a layup before the Pats rattled off seven straight to make it a one point game.

 

This would be the closest the Patriots would get as CU went on a 14-5 run over the next five minutes of play. Jadrian Flores hit a pair of free throws before Ramey swished another three to bring the score to 58-51 with 7:50 on the clock. The Phoenix drained four straight shots from the charity stripe as the clock reached the six minute mark. Another mid-range jumper from Hinson and four more Fitzgerald points made it a five point game.

 

Cumberland U tallied 17 points over the final four minutes to put UC away. Late threes from Ramey, Payton, and Hinson were not enough as the final buzzer sounded with the Phoenix on top 79-70.

 

Cumberlands will be back in action after the New Year as they are set to take on 19th ranked Freed-Hardeman University. The game is slated for Jan. 5th at 7:30 PM ET in Williamsburg, KY.

Original source can be found here.