Cumberland comeback turned back

With Cumberland helping out with 16 first-half turnovers, No. 8 Lambuth appeared poised to run the Bulldogs out of the Dallas Floyd Center on Thursday.
But the Bulldogs persevered and used some hot shooting to take the lead in the second half before succumbing 77-71.
"The kids competed at a high level for the first time in a long time," Cumberland coach Lonnie Thompson said after his Bulldogs dropped to 8-6 for the season and 0-4 in the TranSouth Conference. "We lost to a good team, without a doubt, the best backcourt in the league.
Cumberland took a four-point lead with around four minutes to play. But back-to-back three-pointers swung the momentum back to Lambuth as the Eagles moved to 12-2, 3-0.
Lambuth jumped to a 26-9 lead before Cumberland whittled the margin down to 36-29 by halftime behind Channing Tucker's 11 points.
"We turned the ball over so much the first half, they had 14 points off turnovers," Thompson said.
Foluke Tobin led Lambuth with 22 points while Kierren Lovick added 18, including 12 in the first half. Jeremy Weddle tossed in two of the Eagles' three 3-pointers on his way to 16 while Ivan Jenkins, who earned All-Big South Conference honors and played in the NCAA Tournament with Winthrop two years ago, hit the other triple and finished with 10 points and four assists.
"We're a young team I'm playing with, a couple of young kids in the backcourt," Thompson said. "They're playing with a couple of Division-I transfers who've played at a high level."
Thomas Douglas tossed in 24 points from the backcourt for Cumberland while Tucker came off the bench to fire in half of the Bulldogs' eight three-pointers on his way to 20. Jason Langelier notched nine points while Desmond Rhodes added eight, Joseph Northington five, Kevin Bufford three and Aurimas Silys two.
Both teams shot over 60 percent in the second half as Cumberland finished the game at .510 to Lambuth's .456. The Eagles tossed in 22 of 26 free throws while the Bulldogs dropped in 11 of 14.
Cumberland controlled the glass 33-27 as Bufford and Langelier each secured seven caroms. But the Bulldogs lost the ball 27 times on turnovers to Lambuth's 15.
The Bulldogs will await a visit from Trevecca and former Mt. Juliet guard Josh Helton at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Floyd Center.