CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – An overall rough shooting night for Campbellsville men's basketball and an extremely rough first half was almost forgotten Monday night as No. 17 University of the Cumberlands escaped the Powell Athletic Center with a 65-64 win.
 
Early shots not falling for the Tigers helped the Patriots climb to a 17-point lead with 12:39 left to go in the second half, but then CU went on a 12-0 run in just three minutes to cut the deficit to six points.The Patriots were always able to hold their lead up to a slim, one-point lead, three times in the last 1:18.
 
Campbellsville final broke through with an inbounds play with 11 seconds left as they hit Stephaun Adams on a flair screen as the senior knocked down the three for the Tigers to take a 64-63 lead with about eight seconds left.
 
That lead was the first CU lead since the 12:55 mark in the first half when they led 10-6 before Cumberalnds went on a 9-0 run and led until the final moments of the game.
 
After Adams' three-pointer, no timeout was called and the Patriots ran the ball up the floor when Adams was called for a foul with 2.5 seconds left sending UC's Jordan Griggs to the line.
 
UC was able to go 8-for-9 from the free throw line in the last 1:02 of the game to hold onto their lead and claim it back as Griggs knocked down both of his two free throws with 2.5 seconds left. Griggs hits seven of those eight free throws as the Patriots most reliable free throw shooter on the court.
 
For the game, the Tigers shot 32.9 percent from the field, 22.2 percent in the first half as they scored a season-low 20 points in the opening 20 minutes. The second half went more the way of Campbellsville as they shot 43.3 percent and scoring 44 points.
 
The Tigers' big three of Adams, Andrew Smith and Hagen Tyler put up solid numbers, especially in the second half led by 25 from Adams with 21 coming in the second 20 minutes. Big Drew was a beast on the glass, grabbing 17 of the 29 Tiger rebounds for a double-double with 17 points to go along with his 17 boards.
 
Tyler couldn't find a shooting rhythm for the second-straight game, only going 4-for-16 in the game but was able to hit a big three-pointer with about six minutes left to pull the game within a possession for the first time in the second half at 53-50.
 
There were two big discrepancies in the game in turnovers and free throws as one favored each side. The Tigers forced Cumberlands into 21 turnovers in the game when CU only committed five turnovers all game. Unfortunately, Campbellsville was also in single digits in free throw attempts and makes as they went 9-for-9 from the line in the game but the Patriots shot 19 times from the charity stripe, making 14 total in the game.
 
The Tigers will host the top team in the conference in No. 8 Georgetown Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET at the Powell Athletic Center as their only other game this week with this Saturday off.