COLUMBIA, Ky. – Cumberlands (Ky.) turned the ball over 16 times and Lindsey Wilson College made it pay, hitting 10 threes on Saturday night to earn an 85-76 win at Biggers Sports Center.
The win snaps an eight-game losing streak in the series for the Blue Raiders as their man-to-man defense limited the Patriots to just nine assists and 42.9 percent shooting from the field. The Blue Raiders shot 50 percent from behind the arc and led points off turnovers 21-10 and points off the bench 30-8.
Cumberlands (15-5, 6-4 MSC) did hit 25-of-28 free throws, but it wasn't enough to slow a Lindsey Wilson (18-2, 8-2 MSC) offense that shot out of the gates with eight first-half 3-pointers.
Daronte' Clark hit a pair of threes and led Lindsey Wilson with 18 points, while Kalen Kimberland added 15 and DeAntra Scott issued 10 points. Darren Ballou and Chris Bridges also each hit two threes on the day.
The Patriots got two big performances from Antonio Bumpus with 23 points and Benito Santiago, Jr., with 22 points and eight rebounds. Milton Watts and Kimberland paced Lindsey Wilson with five boards each.
A basket by Bumpus to open the game was Cumberlands' only lead of the game as the Blue Raiders went on to lead by 15 points in the first half and 18 points in the second. The game only became interesting with a little over a minute to go when a layup from Santiago, Jr., made the Blue Raider lead just six points at 76-70.
The basket by Santiago was the end of an 8-0 run the Patriots started with three minutes left in the game. It became a free-throw contest for the Blue Raiders in the final minute as they hit all eight of their attempts from the stripe to not give away the game.
Lindsey Wilson finished the game shooting 46.6 percent from the field and hit 21-of-27 tries from the free-throw line. It gets back on the court at 3 p.m. CT on Jan. 26 at Bluefield (Va.).
Saturday's win was historic for the Blue Raiders as it was the program's 500th win since becoming a four-year institution in the 1987-88 season.
The win comes against a Cumberlands team that was ranked No. 1 in the NAIA a little over a week ago. Since then it has lost four straight games, all on the road in MSC play.
