McKENZIE, Tenn.—Doyle Cockrill III drilled a three to tie the game at 75-75 with under a minute to play. With 11 seconds left,
Demarius Boyd was at the line to take the lead, but missed the front end of a one-and-one and Querrion Gadson took it down the floor to hit a game-winning layup with three seconds as Bethel holds off Cumberland 77-75.
Cumberland (6-19, 2-8 MSC) made 27-of-55 shots to shot 49.1% from the field and made 6-of-11 threes.
Four Phoenix finished with double figures, led by Demarius Boyd with 21 points. Boyd was 8-for-11 from the field with four boards. Doyel Cockrell III finish with 17 points and made three three-pointers. Keyshawn Robinson posted a double double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Beljwok Adaing added 11 points.
Bethel shot 51.6% from the field and 50% from three. The Wildcats also out rebounded the Phoenix 36-29.
Gadson posted 21 points including the game winner for Bethel. He also added in eight boards while shooting 8-13 from the field. Kenyon Maddox scored 14 points off the bench with eight boards. Connor Guthrie also added 10 points.
Tied early at 4-4, Bethel used a 7-2 run to lead 11-6 after four minutes of play. The Phoenix came charging back to tie the game at 14-14 before Guthrie drained a three to spark a 6-0 run.
Leading by seven at 27-20, Cumberland went on a 7-0 spurt scoring on four-straight possessions.
The Wildcats again built a seven point lead at 40-33 with a few minutes left in the half, but CU closed the half on a 12-4 run to take a lead into the break.
Cumberland started the second half by building their largest lead of the game at eight, leading 57-49 and later 63-55 with 10 minutes to play.
The Phoenix held the lead until the final couple of minutes with the Wildcats taking their first lead of the second half at 73-72. Bethel pushed it out to a three point lead before Cockrill tied it with a triple. Cumberland had a chance to retake the lead at the line, but couldn't get it go allowing Bethel to hit the game-winning shot to win 77-75.
Cumberland will be at home for their final two regular season games of the season taking on the Cumberlands on Thursday and Georgetown on Saturday.
