NE Nashville News

Men’s basketball opens up the new year with a tough road loss versus Shawnee State, dropping 63-55. 

It was a deciding match for the two teams as they entered the play with a shared 5-4 conference record. Despite CU heading into the break  with all of the momentum, Shawnee State dominated the second half to secure the hard fought conference victory. 

The Phoenix were outshot from the field going 30.2% (19-63) compared to Shawnee’s 43.5% (20-46). Cumberland was only able to sink eight of their 34 attempts from outside the arc.

The Bears had three shooters in double-digit scoring, led by Tre Baumgardner III with 15. TJ Stargell came alive in the second half and led his team with 17 points, followed by Jordan Stephens with nine. Nassir Coleman recorded 11 rebounds in his 28 minutes of play.

Cumberland traded points with Shawnee for large portions of the first half, neither team making a significant dent in scoring until a 4-0 run from the Bears put them up by five at 18-13. 

The Phoenix turned up the heat with a 6-0 run, during which they picked up three back-to-back inside buckets- two of which came from the hands of Isaac Stephens. 

It was a tight battle with both teams looking to head into the break with the advantage. With just over a minute left to play, Demarius Boyd hit an all important three to secure a 28-25 lead.

The Phoenix maintained control of the ball in the final few seconds due to a defensive rebound from Isaac Stephens, a ball which Stargell held onto until the last second to sink a buzzer beater three and spread the advantage to six.

Jordan Stephens immediately expanded it to nine out of the break with a huge look from outside the arc in the first minute of the second half. 

The next five minutes were all under Shawnee’s control as they found their first lead since early in the first half on a four point run. The Phoenix were able to tie it up on four different occasions but struggled to reclaim an advantage for themselves.

Cumberland had two steals and four points in less than a minute to chip away at Shawnee’s lead and bring it within one. 

Isaac Aberguat put away his second three of the game to spread it back out to three points in Shawnee’s favor. Down by four with just over 40 seconds left to play, Stargell made a steal and a layup to cut it down to four for a two position game. 

The Bears made another late game turnover with 30 seconds left in the game, but the Phoenix were unable to capitalize on the opportunity and ultimately dropped with a 63-55 score.  

The Phoenix move to an 8-7 overall, 5-5 conference record. The team will stay on the road for another conference battle on Saturday, when they will take on Pikeville at 2 pm.

Original source can be found here