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CINCINNATI -- The University of Cincinnati men's basketball team opened up its 2014-15 campaign with an 86-79 win over Bellarmine, Monday inside Fifth Third Arena.
Six Bearcats, Gary Clark (Clayton, N.C./Clayton), Farad Cobb (West Palm Beach, Fla./Northwest Florida State College), Coreontae DeBerry (Holland, Mich./Hutchinson CC), Quadri Moore (Linden, N.J./Linden), Deshaun Morman (Richmond, Va./Faith Baptist Christian (Fla.) and Jamaree Strickland (Oakland, Calif./Queen City Prep Academy (N.C.)) made their collegiate debuts as UC won its 37th straight exhibition game, running its record to 17-0 in warmup games under eighth-year head coach Mick Cronin.
Coming out of halftime deadlocked at 46, UC used a 6-0 run over 2:23 early in the second half to lead 58-50 with 15:37 left. During that span, Bellarmine was 0-for-4 from the field.
The Bearcats pushed the lead to as many as 16 in the second half, before coming home with the seven-point win. UC turned up the defensive pressure in the second half, holding Bellarmine to 13-of-29 shooting and forcing nine of its 17 turnovers.
UC got 48 points from its bench and also converted 13 offensive rebounds into 12 points.
Octavius Ellis (Memphis, Tenn./Trinity Valley CC), who returned to UC after a two-year stint at Trinity Valley CC, led the Bearcats with 12 points, chipping in nine rebounds, four blocks and three assists. Morman and Sanders added 11 apiece while Caupain also found double digits, finishing with 10.
Bellarmine's Jake Thelan led all players with 21, going 10-of-13 from the field and adding seven assists and six rebounds. Rhett Troutman finished with 17 points and Josh Derksen had 15 and drained three triples.
UC got a buzzer-beating three from Morman to even things at 46 apiece heading into the locker room. The Bearcats trailed for much of the opening stanza as the Knights came out firing, hitting their first eight shots and shooting at a nearly 71-percent clip in the half (17-of-24).
The Bearcats got to the line 12 times in the first 20 minutes, making 11 and helping chip away at the Bellarmine lead, which stayed around seven points for most of the half.
Down 28-21 after a Derksen three with 8:24 left, a Morman jumper on the next possession started a 13-6 UC run that knotted things back up at 34-34 with 5:25 left. The Bearcats took their first lead of the half moments later on a triple by Guyn that made the score 39-38 with 4:05 to go.
UC returns to Fifth Third Arena on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014 at 2 p.m. ET to close out exhibition play against Fairmont State. The game will be streamed free of charge through BearcatsTV on GoBEARCATS.com. The Bearcats open the regular season on Friday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. against Saint Francis (Pa.) inside Fifth Third Arena.
Season ticket packages for the 2014-15 Bearcats campaign start at just $99 in the Bearcat Lair section where sales are at an eight-year high.
The UC home schedule features key games against nonconference opponents VCU, San Diego State, and Xavier. The Bearcats' American Athletic Conference home schedule includes contests with Temple, SMU, Memphis, and defending national champion UConn.
Additional locations are available for purchase for the final exhibition game with lower level tickets starting at $10. Please visit BearcatsBasketball.com or call 1-877-CATS-TIX for more information about all ticket options.