Comeback Falls Just Short for Men's Basketball

OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Brescia University men's basketball team fell to 0-7 on the year following their close lose to Cumberland (TN). With two exhibition games coming up, the Bearcats look to regroup before heading into conference play.

It was a low scoring first half as the Bearcats hosted just their second home game in this young season. The Phoenix took a four-point lead on a made three just five-minutes into the game. The Bearcats battled back as Jordan Cooke sank his first three of the game coming back from injury. CU continued to stretch the lead by eight as Head Coach, Matt Karn, called a timeout. Not long after the break, the Bearcats started connecting, going on a 7-4 run with seven minutes to go. A tough layup by Israel Momodu brought the Bearcats within four of the lead. Fouled in the paint, Cooke was sent to the line to cut the Phoenix lead to two as he sank both free shots. Cumberland gathered some momentum on BU missed shots leading to an 12-5 run and an 11-point lead going into half.

The Bearcats had their work cut out for them in the second half as they chased a double-digit deficit to start the final 20 minutes. Linkin Lockhart caught fire from the field as back-to-back buckets cut the lead to six. The Bearcats kept CU to just nine points in the first seven minutes of the half as they began to chip away at the lead. Juante Jenkins became a spark after a steal and an emphatic fast-break dunk erupted the gym to cut the lead to five. The Bearcats took advantage of the CU missed free throws as Linkin Lockhart walked down back-to-back shots to get the Bearcats within two. Despite getting close to the lead, the Phoenix never relinquished their advantage as they took the 74-71 win.

The Bearcats shot just 35% from the field in the loss as they forced 22 turnovers and lost the battle of the boards, 53-36. Four Bearcats ended in double-digits as Jenkins and Momodu each had 14 points, Lockhart with 13 points, and Cooke with 11 points. Four of the five started tallied at least five boards in the game as Cooke and Jenkins combined for 11 assists.

The Bearcats will head to Martin, TN to take on DI UT-Martin on Tuesday, Nov. 25, at 6pm.