Lady Bulldogs survive at No.9 Campbellsville, 65-62

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Mackenzie Lee’s 3-pointer was off the mark and the clock ran out in a scramble under the goal, as No. 7 Cumberland survived 65-62 against ninth-ranked Campbellsville on Saturday at the Powell Athletic Center in the NAIA Game of the Week.

With the win the Bulldogs move to 18-1 on the season, 9-1 in the Mid-South Conference, and have won all 11 games this season away from home, including 10-0 in true road contests.

Cumberland led almost wire-to-wire, taking an early 13-2 advantage and holding a 47-34 lead after Briannica Tye’s 3-pointer with 15:20 left in the second half. But the Tigers answered with seven straight points, five from Mary Jehlik, and Campbellsville took its second lead of the contest on a 3-pointer by Mrashi Karumba with 4:56 to play.

Tye answered for the Bulldogs with a reverse layup on the next possession and London Elie had a layup on an assist from TaCouya Allen with 3:50 to play, giving CU a 62-59 edge. Jehlik’s layup on a pick-and-roll with 2:35 left made it a one-point game again.

Cumberland did not score after Elie’s field goal until the final minute when Tye stepped back and knocked down her second trifecta of the contest with 36.3 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs missed three shots, committed a pair of fouls, had one turnover and Elie failed on two foul shot attempts during the dry spell, but the CU defense held the Tigers to 1-of-5 shooting with one turnover during the stretch.

After Tye’s 3-pointer, Lee was fouled and made one free throw. The Tigers pressed full court and CU turned the ball over, stepping out of bounds with 17.5 seconds remaining. After a timeout Campbellsville looked for a tying shot, but Lee’s trifecta was off the mark and as many as five players scrambled under the goal for the loose ball, with the clock expiring in the melee.

Tye scored eight of her team-high 12 points in the second half and added five assists and two steals. She played the final 8:34 of the first half with two fouls as well.

Elie netted 10 points, eight in the second half, and blocked six shots, while Jessica Pace recorded 11 points and nine rebounds, all in the first half. Seven Cumberland players scored at least six points.

Lee led the Tigers with 17 points and Courtney Clifton hit three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points. Jehlik grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and added eight points.

Cumberland jumped out early thanks to hitting the offensive glass, with the first seven points for CU coming on the offensive boards, including Pace’s bucket and the foul. The Bulldogs led 13-2 just over four minutes into the game behind seven points from Pace and buckets by Elie, Yalonda Davis and Tye.

But Clifton hit back-to-back 3-pointers for the Tigers and the fouls started coming fast-and-furious on CU, putting Campbellsville at the foul line, where they finished 9-of-15 in the period. The home team’s only lead of the half came on the first of two straight field goals from Kristen Jacob, giving the Tigers a 23-22 advantage.

Pace answered with her third basket of the period and Casie Cowan hit a layup plus the foul on the fast break. CU scored eight straight points over a three-minute stretch late in the period, starting with another bucket from Pace and including field goals by Davis, Samantha Harper and Tye. Two free throws by Simone Ryan gave the Bulldogs a 37-31 edge at the break.

Pace led all scorers with 11 points along with nine rebounds, but Cumberland had four starters with two fouls apiece and were whistled for 14 total fouls in the half compared to seven for the Tigers. Lee netted nine points to lead Campbellsville, which shot just 30 percent from the field but stayed in the game thanks to the charity stripe.

Cumberland will return home this week, facing Pikeville on Thursday and Virginia-Wise on Saturday at the Dallas Floyd Recreation Center.

CU men shap losing skid, defeat Campbellsville 78-72

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Cumberland hit 13-of-14 free throws in the last 1:08 to seal a 78-72 victory over Campbellsville Saturday afternoon.

Charles Stewart scored a game-high 15 points, including going 7-of-8 from the line in the last 68 seconds.

Cumberland (7-11, 3-7) rose out of a two-game shooting slump to hit 57-percent of their attempts and 19-of-23 from the free throw line. The Bulldogs also nailed half of their 3-point shots, going 9-of-18 from the floor.

The contest started out slowly, with the squads only managing one free throw apiece until Creshaun Holt put in a 3-pointer to put the Bulldogs up 4-1. The game then became a 3-point shootout between the Bulldogs and Tigers. E.J. Perry and Lester Gude combined for four consecutive treys while Campbellsville had three Tigers step up and hit deep shots, putting the Bulldogs ahead 20-16 at the 7:54 mark.

Daniel McFadden came off of the bench and provided valuable minutes for CU, ripping down an offensive board and scoring on a putback with 6:37 on the clock to give Cumberland a 22-18 advantage. After an Elijah Gillis bucket, McFadden hit a triple to push the Bulldog lead to six.

Two Stewart free throws with 1:34 left before the half put CU up 29-23. The Tigers’ Jordan Myers scored off an offensive rebound, cutting the lead to four. Cumberland then coughed up two turnovers, but Cameron Prather’s steal as time expired allowed the Bulldogs to hang on to their 29-25 lead going into the locker room.

The Tigers scored the first basket of the second half to cut the deficit to two. After being held scoreless in the first stanza, CU’s Brian Blackmon scored a bucket to again put Cumberland up four.

With 16:37 left in the game, Perry knocked down his third triple of the game to extend CU’s lead to five. At the 12-minute mark, Stewart threw his 5-9 body into the paint, hauled in an offensive board and scored to extend CU’s lead seven. McFadden knocked in a three the next trip down the floor to give the Bulldogs a double-digit lead.

On a miss by Kenneth Stripling, Stewart once again wrangled an offensive rebound, leading to a McFadden bucket to push the lead to a dozen with 9:36 remaining on the clock.

The Tigers’ Malik Thomas scored a second chance bucket to put Campbellsville within eight, but Blackmon hit a shot in the paint to extend the lead back to ten with 3:46 to go.

The Bulldogs lost sight of sharp-shooter Myers and he nailed a three to cut the lead to 64-57, and two free throws by his teammate Sean Scott sliced CU’s advantage to five.

A big time steal by Stewart in the backcourt led to a fastbreak layup by McFadden with 1:39 left in the game. Thomas hit another bucket for Campbellsville on the ensuing possession, cutting the lead to five.

The Tigers successfully enacted a full court press, rattling CU into turnovers, but Campbellsville was unable to convert on their side of the floor. The remainder of the game was hashed out at the free throw line, with Stewart knocking in his seven freebies and Blackmon draining all six of his free attempts.

For Campbellsville (11-7, 5-5) Addison Smith tallied 15 points.

Cumberland will return home this week, taking on Pikeville at p.m. Thursday and Virginia-Wise at 4 p.m. Saturday.