WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. – Campbellsville University gained ground in the Mid-South Conference standings for the third-straight game, pushing past University of the Cumberlands in overtime Thursday, 75-72.

Campbellsville (11-10, 6-6 MSC) is above .500 for the first time since November as it took over fifth-place in the MSC and now sits only one win out of fourth.

"Give our team all the credit. It took a lot of effort and guts to hang in there and come out at the end," said Keith Adkins, CU head coach. "After last week's good wins and even going back as far as the Lindsey Wilson win, we started to feel good about ourselves and started playing well. Then you look on the schedule and you have to go to Cumberlands and Georgetown. You never know what you're going to get out of a young team but this whole game our guys never gave up, and I didn't see quit in their body language or eyes in any timeout huddle."

Campbellsville rallied in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime after trailing by a possession or two most of the second half. Coming off a missed bonus free throw by Cumberlands, senior point guard Darius Clement hit a deep 25-foot 3-pointer behind the screen of Jordan Myers to tie the game at 63-63 with 14 seconds left, sending the game into overtime.

"Oh wow! What a shot. It was a deep 3 that's for sure. We set him a ball screen and he had to shoot over top a taller defender and Jordan Myers and banged it," said Adkins. "Certain players have that instinct to them and want the ball in those situations down the stretch."

The Tigers went on to out-score the Patriots, 12-9, in overtime with the help of six extra-period points from Eric Gaines.

Gaines led the Tigers all night with 24 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.

"Eric was good tonight. He overcame a team who had a scouting report to take away his strengths, which is driving to the basket, and he was able to do so anyways. He finished a lot of shots at the rim," said Adkins. "This offseason Eric is going to shoot a lot and work on a shooting game. Once he can add that he will be one of the toughest all-around players in the league and nation."

Gaines' scoring began early in the game as he used an inbounds lob pass from Clement to tie the game at 8-8.

Cumberlands went on a mini 4-0 run but Elliott Young hit the Tigers first Edward Jones 3-pointer and cut the lead to 12-11 with 13:36 left.

Campbellsville took its first lead of the first half on a basket by Clement, Michael Dow hit a Patriot 3-pointer to tie the game once again at 17.

UC's Shaquille Lowery picked up a Gaines miss and rushed back down the court and hit a circus shot while being fouled by Gaines. Lowery hit the free throw for the old-fashioned 3-point play to give UC its largest lead in the first half, 29-23.

Clement hit a 3 with 1:18 to play in the half, but Cumberlands sparked to end the half. Dow grabbed a Lowery miss and fed it to a streaking Steve Goins, who dunked over Young to give Cumberlands a 31-26 halftime lead.

Whatever Adkins said to his squad at the break must have sparked the Tigers. A'Darius Pegues got into the passing lane of Cumberlands and the ball was deflected perfectly to Gaines to start the second half. Gaines used a breakaway tomahawk dunk and cut the UC lead to a basket, 31-28.

Cumberlanded worked its lead back to a five-point lead, but Jordan Myers scored his first points of the night on the next CU possession with the Tigers' third 3-point basket to pull back within two, 39-37.

Once again, though, the Patriots came right back down the court and Lowery hit a wide open RJ Scott on a back-door cut for the alley-oop. Scott was able to get the lead right back to five-point on two made free throws.

Scott finished with 21 points to lead Cumberlands – his fifth 20-point game of the season and 14^th double-digit performance.

Campbellsville finally got over the hump as Gaines and Pegues scored on back-to-back possessions and the Tigers took its first lead since the 7:57 mark, 46-44. The lead did not last long, as the Tigers got careless on the offensive side of the ball. Goins recorded three blocks in four possessions and the Patriots went on a 9-0 run to lead 52-46 with 8:16 left.

The Tigers did not give up as CU went on a 5-0 run after Myers hit his second 3-pointer of the game and Miles Rice used a driving layup to cut the lead back to one, 52-51, with 7:15 remaining.

Both teams went cold in the next two minute. Cumberlands managed to hit a few free throws but went more than five minutes without a field goal until Scott ended the skid. He grabbed a loose ball underneath the basket and laid it in giving the Patriots a 57-55 lead with 2:40 left.

Scott later hit a transition layup with 43 seconds left in regulation to give Cumberlands a 63-60 lead.

Myers, who hit a game-changing 3 in the final seconds Jan. 23, missed a deep, contested 3-pointer on the other end. Lowery grabbed the board and pushed the ball up-court to Scott, who was fouled by Clement. Scott missed the front-end of the bonus, giving CU one more shot at a tie.

Clement stepped back behind a screen and hit the deep 3 to send the game into overtime, tied 63-63.

"Neither team shot great from the line. But we hit them down the stretch when we really needed them and they didn't."

Down 68-65 in OT, Clement drove the lane and hit a wide-open Rice for another 3-pointer to knot the game at 68. On the ensuing possession for CU, Rice drove to the bucket on a dribble-drive motion and used his left hand to give the Tigers their first lead since the 10:06 mark in the second half when they led 46-44.

Campbellsville stretched its biggest lead to five, 73-68, off a Gaines free throw and basket with 47 second left in the OT period. Cumberlands was able to get the lead down to two, but Gaines hit his sixth free throw to put CU back up three. The Patriots did not get a clean look at a 3-pointer as time expired.

The Patriots struggled from the arc all night, being held to 21.4 percent (3-for-14).

"That helped us down the stretch because they settled for outside jumpers. We hit the 3s when it mattered with Darius and Eric both hitting them down the stretch," said Adkins. "In one breath I think, wow we are lucky they didn't hit more 3s, but in another breath I think to myself and say we had something to do with that. We have gotten to the point where we are contesting shots and containing the drives. When we do that we are a tough defensive club."

It was CU's eighth game this season holding teams below 25 percent from the 3-point arc.  

Rice followed Gaines' lead and finished with 13 points in the game, while Pegues had 12 and Clement had 10. Young and Pegues had nine and eight rebounds, respectively.

Tony Bradley and Lowery followed Scott's lead for Cumberlands with 17 and 12 points, respectively. Goins finished the game with six blocks.
 

Campbellsville will be back in action Saturday, Feb. 8 at No. 13 Georgetown College. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. in the David-Reid Alumni Gym. With a win, and help from others, CU can climb into a tie for fourth-place in the conference.

"We laid our own bed and the situation we put ourselves in, every single game is important. All the games we have left are against someone above us in the MSC standings, and now we have head-to-head opportunities to knock them off and give ourselves a better chance for the MSC tournament," said Adkins. "If our guys approach the Georgetown game on Saturday like we did tonight, then we give ourselves a fighting chance"

To follow the Tigers throughout the rest of the 2013-14 season, check them out on Twitter - @CUTigerHoops and @CvilleTigers. Also on Facebook – Campbellsville Tigers