PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- The men's basketball program at Shawnee State got 23 points and 12 rebounds from junior forward Jason Steele on 8-of-15 shooting from the field and gave No. 20 Cumberlands (Ky.) all it could handle in a nonconference matchup between two former conference foes, but the Bears ultimately dropped a 73-70 decision to the Patriots Saturday afternoon in a contest that was held at Waller Gymnasium in Portsmouth.

Shawnee State (1-1) continued to showcase excellent basketball on the defensive end of the floor, as the Bears held Cumberlands to 9-of-26 shooting from the floor (34.6 percent) in the opening half and outrebounded the Patriots slightly, 37-35, in the contest. The Patriots' leading scorer coming into the contest, Kyle Duke, scored 17 points but was held to seven shot attempts, with Duke committing three turnovers compared to just one assist for the contest.

The first three minutes of the contest saw Shawnee State blitz Cumberlands as the Bears started Saturday's contest on a 9-0 run with the big three of Steele, Tyreon Payne and Kiante Williams all getting involved. Steele's dunk off of a Payne steal and pass with 18:06 to play and a Williams three-pointer from the right wing off of an assist from Jareon Mayo with 17:15 to play in the first half gave SSU a three-possession lead to begin the game.

Rallying back as good teams typically do, the Patriots countered with an 18-6 run to take an 18-15 lead with 8:23 to play in the opening half, but showcasing their own abilities and talent, Shawnee State responded with an 11-2 run to take a 26-20 advantage -- with Jaiden Guice's three at the 7:39 mark of the first half breaking an 18-all tie and ultimately leading SSU en route to the Bears grabbing the six-point advantage with 4:03 to play in the opening half of competition.

While Shawnee State converted just three shot attempts over the remainder of the half from that point as Cumberlands retook the advantage, two of those baskets came within the final 45 seconds of the first half as Mayo knocked down a trifecta while Ahmadou Aw's layup off of the sophomore's own offensive board beat the halftime buzzer, allowing the Bears to close back within two, 37-35, at the half.

Shawnee State then battled back to retake the lead within the opening minute of the second half off of Steele's and-one with 19 minutes to go in the game, and took two separate four-point advantages (46-42 and 48-44) as Steele and Williams combined to score each of the Bears' first 11 second half points. However, a 17-6 run by Cumberlands gave the Patriots the lead for good, and after managing to battle back to tie the score at 54 aside on Aw's layup with 7:52 remaining, the Bears trailed the rest of the distance following Javecckio Thomas' layup to answer with 7:23 to play.

Along with Steele, Williams (14 points, four rebounds, two blocks, 5-of-10 shooting) and Payne (10 points, two assists, two steals, 4-of-9 shooting) joined the junior in double figures in the contest. Daniel Rosenber added in two blocks while Rheyce DeBoard led Shawnee State with three assists.

Shawnee State will return to action Wednesday evening when the Bears play Wilberforce Wednesday evening (Nov. 5) at 8 p.m. inside Waller Gymnasium in Portsmouth.