Box Score FRANKFORT, Ky. — Campbellsville University was able to hold on down the stretch and won its second Mid-South Conference Championship, 72-69 over University of the Cumberlands on Sunday afternoon.
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BOX SCORE
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After not scoring in the first half, senior D'Von Campbell exploded out of the second-half gates and scored 11-straight points with nine of those coming from behind the arc. The senior from Arlington, Texas finished with a team-high 16 points and knocked down 4-of-6 3-pointers in the second half.
Fellow seniors Eric Gaines and Damontre Harris both finished in double digits with Gaines pitching in 14 points and Harris finishing with 13. Harris also grabbed 11 rebounds for his MSC leading 17th double-double of the season.
The Tigers will now await to see if they played their way into a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NAIA National Tournament. The selection show will air Wednesday, March 11 on the NAIA Sports Network.
Campbellsville led by as many 14 points with 7:26 remaining but the Tigers went mightily cold from the floor. CU finished the final seven-plus minutes without a field goal, going 0-for-7.
Cumberlands' Iven Rosier heated up and sparked a 10-0 run for the Patriots. He drilled two-straight 3s and a layup to cut the margin to four, 68-64. Karon Pratt and Rosier came into the tournament hitting only 15 3-pointers all season but the duo hit five against the Tigers today.
Adkins called a timeout to cool the hot hands of Cumberlands and it seemed to work but Campbellsville never could recover offensively.
The only points for Campbellsville in the final 7:26 came from the free throw line. CU hit 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.
The Patriots had a chance down the stretch but smart coaching and great timing by Campbell did not give Cumberlands a chance. Campbell hit two free throws to push the Tigers ahead, 71-68 with 5.9 seconds left and then fouled Xaiver Owens when he crossed the midcourt stripe to not allow the Patriots a 3-point shot attempt.
Owens made the first freeby but missed the back end on purpose and the ball went out of bounds to CU. Darius Clement was fouled on the ensuing inbounds pass and hit 1-of-2 free throws to push CU ahead by three with only 2 seconds left.
Cumberlands' last second half-court shot was missed to seal the first MSC Title for the Tigers since 2006.
Campbellsville finished hitting 43.6 percent (24-of-55) from the floor and was one short of Cumberlands 10 3s, hitting 9-of-18 (50 percent) from behind the arc. The Patriots finished hitting 10-of-23 (43.4 percent) from behind the arc and 42 percent (25-of-59) overall.
Campbellsville also outrebounded the Patriots, 36-32.