TicketsDec. 20, 2008
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The University of Cincinnati men's basketball team used a 12-4 overtime run to outlast Eastern Kentucky, 85-77, Saturday in non-conference action at Fifth Third Arena.
UC (9-2) picked up its third-straight win thanks to some late regulation heroics from Deonta Vaughn and Yancy Gates.
Down two, 73-71, with just over four seconds on the clock, Vaughn dribbled coast to coast and lobbed the ball to a leaping Gates who slammed it home with 0.1 seconds left on the clock to tie the score at 73 apiece.
"Deonta was going to have three options on that play," head coach Mick Cronin said. "We felt they would pressure him and keep the ball out of his hands. He made a great cut and got down the court. Our players won that game and that was a great individual play."
The Bearcats were 9-for-10 from the charity stripe in the extra period with a three by Dion Dixon with 2:59 left in the extra stanza putting UC up for good, 82-75.
The overtime win was UC's first since Feb. 9, 2008, a 72-68 victory at Rutgers.
Gates finished with 17 points and eight rebounds. Vaughn scored a team-high 20 points while dishing out seven assists. Mike Williams had his third double-double of the season with 13 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.
"Mike (Williams) was awesome," Cronin said. I really challenged him. I got after him in practice yesterday. You have to be who you are and maximize it. I thought him and Yancy (Gates) played with a lot of passion and emotion."
A jumper by Gates with 10:39 left in the game started a 16-7 UC run that knotted things up at 60 apiece with 4:35 to go. Minutes later, Larry Davis scored six points in a 15-second span to give the Bearcats a 70-69 lead with 1:52 remaining. Davis finished with 14 points.
EKU's Mike Rose tallied four points in the last minute of regulation to give the Colonels a two-point margin, setting up the final play of regulation.
Rose had a game-high 25 points after knocking down four triples. EKU's Mike Lewis and Jorge Camacho, a pair of freshmen, came off the bench to score 11 and 12 points, respectively. Lewis had a team-high eight boards.
The Bearcats close out a five-game in nine-day stretch at 7:30 p.m. Monday against Arkansas Pine Bluff in Fifth Third Arena.