Tuesday night's final nonconference matchup for SMWC men's basketball was a battle of two teams in the top 31 in the nation in points-per-game. 
The University of the Cumberlands was 27th at 88.1 ppg and the Pomeroys were 31st at 87.1 ppg. 
It lived up to the billing, but the home team came up short 93-87 at Hamilton Arena.
SMWC used a toughened defensive effort to cut an 18-point halftime deficit to six with nine minutes to go Tuesday night against the unbeaten Patriots, but the Pomeroys couldn't get over the hump. 
Cobie Barnes led the Pomeroys (4-3) with 22 points and 10 rebounds, pacing five players in double figures. Chaz Birchfield had 13 points, and Greg Jenkins posted 11 with five steals. 
DaMeriz Merriweather was a spark with 12 points and four assists off the bench, and Lincoln Hale also came off the bench with 10 points. 
The Pomeroys' defensive effort was improved coming out of halftime. 
The Patriots made just 2 of its first 8 shot attempts in the second half, helping the Pomeroys close to within 58-50 by the 13:20 mark on a layup by Jenkins. 
Barnes capped a 9-1 run with his second 3-pointer of the night at the 9:01 mark to pull SMWC within 70-64. But the Cumberlands found a way to keep the Pomeroys at at least six points the remainder of the game. 

NAIA LEADERBOARD
With his five steal performance, Jenkins ranks 5th in the NAIA with a 3.4 steals per game average. He helped the Pomeroys force 10 second-half turnovers. 

UP NEXT
SMWC hits the road to open River States Conference action Saturday against IU East.