COLUMBIA, Ky. – A 68.0 percent second-half shooting percentage helped the Lindsey Wilson men's basketball team defeat Cumberland (Tenn.) 81-56 on Thursday night at Biggers Sports Center.

The Blue Raiders (18-8, 5-5 Mid-South Conference) led by as many as 30 points in the second half over the Phoenix (11-11, 4-6 MSC) en route to the regular season sweep of Cumberland.

Dmitry Utolin scored a team-high 20 points. Charles Sutton and DJ Lambert both finished with 16 points while Allen Costley also scored in double figures with 10.

Both teams struggled to find a consistent rhythm right out of the gate, playing to an early 11-11 tie at the 11:58 mark. But from that point on, it was all Lindsey Wilson as a Lambert field goal ignited a 13-0 run that lasted nearly six minutes and was capped off by a Hannes Erhardt bucket with 4:58 to play in the opening half. Cumberland went 0-for-9 with four turnovers during that span.

The Blue Raiders increased that lead to 14 points, the largest of the first half, at 30-16 after Sutton drained a three pointer with 3:03 to go. Cumberland got the lead down to 10 points at 32-22, but the Phoenix were unable to trim it to single digits as Costley added the final score of the half to give LWC a 34-22 halftime lead.

Lindsey Wilson shot 43.3 percent from the floor in the opening half and hit 3-of-9 three pointers while Cumberland struggled shooting just 27.8 percent and hitting just 1-of-10 three-point attempts.

Sutton scored 12 points in the first half, moving him into sole possession of 10th place on the program's all-time scoring list past former Blue Raider Brent Conley (1998-2000).

Lindsey Wilson opened the second half on an 8-3 run, building the lead to 17 points following back-to-back buckets from Lambert and Sutton. Cumberland's three pointer at the 19:24 mark that made it 36-25 would be as close as the Phoenix would get the remainder of the game as the Lindsey Wilson offense began flourishing in the second half. The Blue Raiders held that 17-point advantage two more times before a Costley shot hit the front iron and climbed up and in to make it a 48-29 lead with 13:03 to play. Costley proceeded to score six of LWC's next eight points as the Blue Raiders took a 54-32 lead with 10:49 to go.

The lead continued to increase for the Blue Raiders, extending it to as many as 30 points at 67-37 following a layup by Utolin at the 7:47 mark.

Cumberland was never able to pull closer than 14 point the remainder of the game as the Lindsey Wilson offense stayed hot and the Blue Raider defense continued to stifle the Phoenix en route to the 81-56 victory.

Lindsey Wilson finished shooting 54.5 percent from the floor for the contest while holding Cumberland to a 33.8 mark, including a 34.8 percentage from three-point range. The Blue Raiders pounded the paint, outscoring the Phoenix 44-28 while also recording 10 team blocks on the night. Nic Brown set a new career high with five rejections.

Marquel Henderson led the Phoenix with 12 points in the loss. Diondrey Holt, Jr., the conference's second-leading scorer, was held to just nine points.

Prior to the game, both Wallace and Sutton were honored with commemorative basketballs after reaching the 1,000 career point club, just the 12th and 13th Blue Raiders in program history to do so.

Lindsey Wilson is back in action on Feb. 16 for a trip to Cumberlands (Ky.).