COLUMBIA, Ky. — The Lindsey Wilson men's basketball team clawed back from a 12-point halftime deficit to tie No. 20 Cumberlands (Ky.) 68-68 after a Bryan Wallace three-pointer with 12 seconds remaining. However, the Patriots' Xavier Owens made a layup with six seconds remaining to regain the lead at 70-68, and the Blue Raiders were unable to score on their last possession as time expired, giving the Patriots a 70-68 victory inside Biggers Sports Center on Thursday night.

Three Blue Raiders scored in double-figures. Wallace scored a team-high 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting and 6-of-8 from the free throw line, while also collecting five rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Dmitry Utolin made 6-of-11 field goal attempts, including 3-of-5 three-point attempts, to score 16 points, and he also dished out four assists. Charles Sutton garnered 14 points by making 5-of-11 shots from the field, including 2-of-3 from behind the three-point arc.

The Blue Raiders (16-12, 6-9 Mid-South Conference) and the Patriots (20-9, 10-5 MSC) traded baskets early, and Lindsey Wilson grabbed its largest lead of the game at 11-7 after a field goal by Pepper Ben Ofokile with 14:19 to play. However, Cumberlands came back to take a 14-13 lead on a basket by Temjae Singleton with 9:19 remaining in the half, and Lindsey Wilson would not lead again for the rest of the evening.

Starting after Okofile's basket, the Patriots put together a 30-11 run to take a 15 point advantage at 37-22 with 21 seconds to play in the first period. Utolin hit a shot from behind the three-point arc with six seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 12 at 37-25 going into halftime.

After the half, Lindsey Wilson clawed back to cut the Patriot lead to five at 37-32 after a made free throw with 18:19 left in the game, but the Patriots once again extended the lead to as many as 14 points at 59-45 with after a three-point shot by Taylor Gover with 8:29 to go.

The Blue Raiders refused to give up, and slowly but surely trimmed the lead down to single digits before a Hannes Erhardt basket made it a two-possession game with the score 64-58 with 2:07 to play.

Each team then scored four points before Sutton buried a three to bring Lindsey Wilson within one possession at 68-65 with 27 seconds remaining. After an empty possession by the Patriots, Wallace made his tying three-pointer, followed by what turned out to be the game-winning layup by Owens, Lindsey Wilson had one final chance to tie the game.

Following a timeout, Lindsey Wilson attempted an inbounds tip-in play with .01 seconds remaining, but a Patriot defender intercepted the pass to end the game as Cumberlands held on for the 70-68 win.

Owens and Singleton both recorded double-doubles to lead the Patriots. Owens scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Singleton tallied 18 points and 13 boards.

Lindsey Wilson returns to the court at 4 p.m. CT on Saturday for its regular-season finale and senior day festivities.