Jan. 10—MCKENZIE — Cumberland’s men went on the road to open up Mid-South Conference action against the Bethel Wildcats and despite a 16-point comeback from BU, the Phoenix took them down 101-90 Thursday night.
The Phoenix and Wildcats dueled back and forth for the opening five minutes of the first half, as each team found their rhythm under the basket. Khi Wallace and Jalin Anglin both took steals coast to coast and put home powerful dunks, though the real star of the first half was Demarius Boyd.
The Wildcats saw many of their offensive sets broken down in the first half, giving way for the Phoenix’s run-and-gun offense to take off. All five starters for Cumberland played the opening 13 minutes of the game yet the Phoenix rode that lineup to a ten point lead at the first substitution break. Boyd went a smooth 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, while not missing another shot from the field or the charity stripe, leading the game with 17 points at the second media timeout.
A beautiful dime from Boyd to Keyshawn Robinson put the Phoenix up by their largest margin of the half, 14 points, and forced a Bethel timeout with exactly five minutes left on the clock. Khi Wallace responded with a block for CU the first possession out of the break and Nick Brunetti brought the ball down the floor and hit a pull-up three pointer. Tristan Conger nabbed a steal after that three and sent a dime to Wallace for yet another slam.
As the clock began to expire on the half it looked like it would be 56-41 in favor of the Phoenix, but Conger yet again put a beauty of a pass into the hands of Keyshawn Robinson who converted a 3-pointer with the help of a shooter’s roll. The 18-point lead at the break cemented what was one of Cumberland’s best halves of the season, shooting 57 percent from the field.
The Wildcats came out looking to match the Phoenix’s energy from the first half, scoring six of the first eight points after the break, but Cumberland calmed them down and scored a quick four points to make things even in the second half. Bethel kept picking away at the lead but every chance the home side had to cut into the lead, the Phoenix had an answer.
As quickly as BU brought it back down to a 15-point game, Triston Conger answered with a quick 3 and a layup to make it a 20-point gap yet again. Cumberland kept that gap until the first media timeout of the second half where the Wildcats began to run, cutting the CU lead to 13 points. Bethel kept scoring and chipping away at the Cumberland lead, turning a 20-point deficit into just six points with eight minutes left to play.
Boyd finally extinguished that flame as the lead got all the way down to four, hitting a three-pointer to extend it back out to seven, also giving a chance for Coach Eric Evans to call a timeout and rally the troops. The Wildcats quickly hit a 3 of their own to bring it right back, but Anglin banked in a long range effort to make it three in a row.
With just over five minutes left on the clock it looked like the Wildcats might be making their final charge to take the lead, but yet again it was Boyd making a four-point play to take it back to an eight-point game. After that point the Phoenix had the five that they played so much of the first half with and that success they found carried over into a 101-90 victory. Boyd led all scorers with 33 points as he and Robinson played every minute of the game. The Phoenix was massive from beyond the arc, shooting 10-of-19, and only missed one free throw as they shot a staggering 23-24.
Today’s game against Georgetown has been postponed due to inclement weather, meaning for the time being the Phoenix’s next game will be against Campbellsville on the road next Thursday. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
