Lindsey Wilson men run away from CU in second half
Jan. 24—COLUMBIA, Ky. — Cumberland's men dropped their second straight game Saturday for an 0-2 road trip as Lindsey Wilson dominated the second half to pull away with a 77-64 win over the Phoenix.
Cumberland (10-10, 7-8 Mid-South Conference) jumped up early, but by halftime the Phoenix trailed by six and Lindsey Wilson took off in the second half.
Ty'Reek Johnson led the Phoenix in scoring, all in the second half. Mt. Juliet's Isaac Stephens scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Jordan Stephens and Jaylen Negron contributed nine points each. As a team, Cumberland shot 44.4% from the field and made five 3s. The Phoenix made just 11 of 22 from the free-throw line.
Lindsey Wilson (7-13, 3-21 MSC) lit it up from outside making 10 three-pointers. The Blue Raiders, coached by former Cumberland assistant Chris Starks, had a 42.3% field-goal percentage. They also had 34 points in the paint and 12 fastbreak points. Lindsey Wilson dominated the boards outrebounding Cumberland 36-28 with 10 offensive rebounds.
Lindsey Wilson's leading scorer was Lucas Ribeiro with 14 points, followed by Jamyus Jones with 10. Nine Blue Raiders scored in the game
Jordan Stephens lit it up to open the game scoring eight of the Phoenix's first 16 points allowing Cumberland to jump out to a 16-11 lead with 11:39 left in the half.
The Phoenix fell into a scoring drought after Tyler Byrd drained a jumper for over three minutes to allow Lindsey Wilson to go on a 12-2 run to get up 23-20 on three made 3s.
Lindsey Wilson held on to the lead the rest of the half and built it up to as much as eight. The Phoenix got two points back before the intermission trailing 35-29.
Cumberland scored the first basket of the second half, but the Blue Raiders exploded for a 14-4 run to get up by 14 at 49-35.
Lindsey Wilson continued to light it up in the second half to get up by 21, 62-41, with 10:09 left.
Cumberland trimmed that lead over the next four minutes over 9-4 spurt to trail 65-50 with 6:50 to play. That margin was as close as Cumberland would come until the end of the game as the Blue Raiders went on to win 77-64.
The Phoenix return home to the Dallas Floyd Phoenix Arena this Thursday and Saturday to take on Pikeville and Shawnee State. The two games as well as Senior Day against Freed-Hardeman will see a return to WANT FM 98.9.
