March 20, 2008
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) shot 64.3 percent in the second half on its way to a 75-62 victory Thursday over Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) in the first round of the 2008 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship.
Luke Fitzgerald posted a double-double with 21 points and a game-high 13 rebounds as Cumberlands advanced past the opening round for the first time since the 2002 tournament. The Patriots are now 20-13 on the year and will square off with No. 2 seed Lee University (Tenn.) Friday at 8 p.m. in a second-round contest.
The teams were tied at 10-10 midway through the first half before Cumberlands reeled off eight consecutive points to take the lead for good, 18-10, with 8:09 left in the period. Lewis-Clark State fought back and pulled to within 26-25 late in the half before the Patriots scored on consecutive possessions in the final 30 seconds to take a 30-25 lead into the locker room.
Cumberlands scored nine of the first 11 points after halftime to extend its margin to 39-27. The Patriots pulled away over the final 15 minutes behind its hot shooting. For the game, Cumberlands connected on 52.6 percent of its field goal tries (30-of-57).
Mike Gibson added 16 points and nine rebounds for Cumberlands, which held a 44-27 edge on the boards. The win by the Patriots marks the 29th time since 1977 that the school has reached the 20-win mark.
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Mike Gordy led all scorers with 24 points to show the way for Lewis-Clark State. Rob Comer and Justin Fraser each posted 11 points for the Warriors, with Fraser collecting a game-high five steals. Gordy was the leading rebounder for Lewis-Clark State with seven. The Warriors end the season with a record of 22-10.
