Wintery weather over the weekend did cool off the hot Patriots of St. Catharine College on Monday, as they enter Campbellsville University coming off a Top 25 upset of Georgetown College and knocked off No. 9 Campbellsville, 56-53.

The Patriots struggled from the free throw line in the final minute (3-of-7), but Ervin Williams toed the line for two freebies with 9.7 seconds to play that helped secure the road win. A 3-pointer from Shawn Savage rimmed out at the buzzer.

"I never doubted that St. Catharine could play. I watched them on a neutral court in November have Cumberland University down by 30 at the half and then absolutely man-handle (No. 8) Southern Polytechnic at their place a few weeks ago," CU head coach Keith Adkins said. "I haven't wavered at all when I say they are one of the most talented teams in the conference. The most disappointing and embarrassing part of tonight is to go out on our home court with a Top 10 ranking and watch someone play harder than us."

St. Catharine opened the game on an 8-0 run, but Savage ended the Tigers' scoring drought with a 3-pointer at the 14:53 minute mark. The Patriots managed to keep their lead most of the half, but Caleb Harris put away three free throws at the seven minute mark of the first half for the Tigers' first lead, 16-15. The shots sparked nine unanswered points by CU, but the Patriots rallied to keep the Tigers' halftime lead only to a point, 25-24.

Williams opened the second half with a basket to regain the Patriots' lead, 26-25, as the first of four lead changes in the second half. Though the Tigers regained the lead, 35-34, St. Catharine answered with 10 straight points. Back-to-back dunks by Arthur Latham and Josh Edwards put an exclamation mark on the Patriots' 44-35 lead with 8:45 to play.

The rally wakened Tiger point guard T.J. Bishop, who had back-to-back steals, followed by back-to-back 3-pointers to even the score, 44-44, with 5:41 to play. But the Patriots were not going to fade away. CU worked the score even twice more at 46 and 51, but St. Catharine found a late 3-point lead and held on for back-to-back upsets in the Mid-South Conference.

Campbellsville, who was ranked No. 9 for the second straight week after the NAIA Top 25 was released Monday afternoon, drops to 4-2 in Mid-South play and 16-6 overall. St. Catharine now moves into a three-way tie for fourth in the conference at 3-3.

CU, now tied for second place in the MSC, will host West Virginia Tech (12-9, 2-4) on Thursday at 8 p.m. and No. 15 Georgetown (16-5, 4-2) on Saturday at 4 p.m.

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SHORT BOX

St. Catharine (15-7, 3-3)
Arthur Latham 6-13 3-6 15, Kevin Owens 3-4 0-1 6, Ervin Williams 7-11 3-3 17, Josh Edwards 4-6 0-2 8, Rainer Rickards 0-3 0-0 0, Kris Caufield 1-1 0-1 2, Josh Peery 1-4 0-0 3, Dustin Warren 0-0 0-0 0, Brandon Johnson 0-5 2-4 2, Adam Decker 1-4 1-2 3. Totals 23-51 9-19 56

Campbellsville University (16-6, 4-2  NAIA #9)
T.J. Bishop 4-11 0-0 10, Caleb Harris 5-9 8-9 19, Shawn Savage 3-11 0-0 9, Jordan Benock 0-2 0-0 0, Justin Vitatoe 1-1 0-0 3, Leon Hart 2-5 0-0 4, Brett Crittenden 0-2 0-0 0, Jake Gill 0-0 0-0 0, Jonas Bohm 0-0 0-0 0, Nestor Colmenares 0-3 0-4 0, JaVaughn Espritt 3-8 2-4 8. Totals 18-52 10-17 53

 

SCORE BY PERIODS	1st	2nd	TOTAL
St. Catharine	24	32	56
Campbellsville University	25	28	53

FG%: St. Catharine .451, Campbellsville University .346. 3-pt FG:St. Catharine 1-8 (Latham 0-1, Edwards 0-1, Rickards 0-1, Peery 1-2, Johnson 0-2, Decker 0-1), Campbellsville University 7-28 (Bishop 2-8, Harris 1-4, Savage 3-11, Benock 0-1, Vitatoe 1-1, Crittenden 0-2, Espritt 0-1). Rebounds: St. Catharine 34 (TEAM 9), Campbellsville University 37 (Espritt 10). Fouls St. Catharine 17, Campbellsville University 18. Fouled out: Hart Colmenares . Technical: none. Assists: St. Catharine 5 (Caufield 2, Johnson 2), Campbellsville University 6 (Harris 2, Espritt 2). Steals: St. Catharine 9 (Edwards 3), Campbellsville University 6 (Bishop 2, Colmenares 2). Blocked shots: St. Catharine 4 (Latham 1, Williams 1, Edwards 1, Caufield 1), Campbellsville University 4 (Espritt 3). Turnovers: St. Catharine 14, Campbellsville University 17. Attendance: 796.