WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. — Campbellsville shot 33 percent in the second half and blew a nine-point halftime lead to fall on the road at No. 23 University of the Cumberlands, 72-69 in the NAIA Game of the Week.
The Tigers lose for the fourth consecutive game and fall to 18-9 overall and 5-8 inside the Mid-South Conference. Cumberlands improved to 18-9 and now are 8-5 inside the conference.
Campbellsville rallied to end the first half going on 26-8 run and taking a 41-32 lead at halftime. Cumberlands was the complete opposite, though, struggling in the final 10:55 of the half and went 1-of-17 in that span.
Coming out of the break, the shooting woes went to Campbellsville's bench. Both teams struggled at the beginning of the half, as the Tigers went 0-of-7 and Cumberlands started 3-of-11 but the Patriots went on an 8-0 run and cut the lead to one, 41-40.
Campbellsville's first basket in the second half came off a floater by
Ron Scott at the 14:19 mark.
Elliott Young put the Tigers up by five (50-45) but Cumberlands went on a quick 10-0 run, retaking the lead, 55-50. A lead the Patriots would not relinquish.
After Cumberlands pushed its lead to as big as eight points with a 3 by Temjae Singleton with 1:44 left,
Sekou Harris answered with a triple to start an 8-2 run for CU.
Rob Robinson banged a 3 with six seconds left to get CU back within two, 71-69, but the clock was not on the Tigers side. CU fouled Xavier Owens with six seconds left and he made 1-of-2 free throws to give Campbellsville a chance for a tie.
After a CU timeout, Robinson hit
Dii'jon Allen-Jordan 30-feet from the basket and his desperation 3 at the buzzer missed.
Campbellsville finished hitting 44.4 percent (20-of-45), while Cumberlands hit 26-of-64 from the floor. The Tigers shot 16 more free throws than Cumberlands, hitting 22-of-30 (73.3 percent).
Robinson led Campbellsville with 14 points after hitting 3-of-5 from behind the 3-point line and going 5-of-8 from the floor. He is the only Tiger that came off the bench that scored, while Cumberlands finished with 31 bench points. The Tigers had four others in double-figures — Allen-Jordan,
Hagen Tyler and
Sekou Harris all finished with 13, while
Ron Scott pitched in 12. Allen-Jordan and
Elliott Young both led the Tigers with nine rebounds.
Cumberlands had four players scoring double-digits. Tre Boutilier scored 16 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to lead the Patriots, while D'Landon Carter finished with 15 and Xavier Owens had 14.
Campbellsville now returns to the Powell Athletic Center to host Lindsey Wilson College and Cumberland University next week. The Tigers and Blue Raiders are scheduled for a 8 p.m. tip on Thursday, Feb. 18 and 4 p.m. tip against the Phoenix on Saturday, Feb. 20. Both games can be followed on the Campbellsville University Sports Network.
