This afternoon the Cincinnati Bearcats battled the Temple Owls in a Sunday showdown. The Bearcats come into this game with a record of 17-9, hoping to make a March Madness push.
The Bearcats starters include Abdul Ado, David DeJulius, John Newman III, Mika Adams-Woods and Jeremiah Davenport. Temple starters were Jahlil White, Sage Tolbert, Hysier Miller, Nick Jourdain and Tai Strickland.
The Owls started the first half with a hot start, leading the Bearcats 9-2 with 15 minutes left in the half. Jahlil White led the team with four points. John Newman gave the Bearcats an offensive spark with a strong drive to the basket and was fouled. Mason Madsen checked in for the Bearcats to provide much-needed passing and 3 point presence. The Owls continued to move the ball well, taking what the defense was giving them. The Bearcats had a very aggressive defense which forced some fast-break turnovers as well. JDavenport checked back into the game and made a crafty bucket to the basket. The Owls continued driving the basketball and in turn had quite a few free throws to show for it. At 12:00 min. in the first half, the Owls lead was 17-6. Out of the timeout Bearcats Ogy Oguama made a contested bucket to bring the Bearcats within 11 points. The Bearcats started to heat up with a 3 pointer by Body Iguana, and a forced turnover by Mason Madsen. David DeJulius facilitated the ball as well as made some timely layups. With 7:00 minutes left in the first half, the Owls led the Bearcats 28-16. The Bearcats came within 9 points with a score from Saunders Jr. The Owls then answered with a 3 point run by Zach Hicks. Madsen led the Bearcats defense with a turnover and a fast break opportunity for a layup. The score now stood at 33-25 with 5:00 min left in the half. Davenport was an instant offense with a 3 pointer and a layup. The Owls Zach Hicks could not be stopped he led the Owls with 12 points with three-3 pointers made. The Owl’s second-leading scorer was Damian Dunn who had 11 points and led his team in assists as well. The Bearcats leading scorer at the half was Julian Newman III with eight points and Jeremiah Davenport and Ody Oguama with seven points. The Owls lead the Bearcats 47-33 at the half.
The Bearcats came out in the second half with aggression, the defense was a priority and it showed. The Owls got in some foul trouble early in the second half and had to make some adjustments. The first time out came at the 13:08 mark in the second half. With the Bearcats trailing 57-44. Davenport continued his instant offense to the basket, leading the Bearcats in scoring with 13 points. The Owls played throughout the foul calls and stayed within their game. Owls head coach Aaron McKie made some timely substitutions with injured players and foul calls. With 8:43 left in regulation. Temple led Cincinnati 62-49, Davenport started to heat up with four points unanswered while getting the Bearcats sold-out crowd involved. Davenport was offensively unstoppable. The Owls lead was now 62-53 with 6:57 left in regulation. Davenport led all scorers with 22 points. The Bearcats continued their second-half surge with a layup by DeJulius assisted by Oguama. With 4:53 left in regulation Temple’s, Jahlil White fouled out. The score was 65-57 with 4;25 left in regulation. The Bearcats forced a turnover, out of bounds, on Dunn. Oguama went to the free-throw line to shoot two. Missing the first and making the second. The Owls took a timeout with 3:56 left in regulation to close the game. The Owls got an amazing block at the time to help close the game. David DeJulius kept his foot on the pedal, getting to the rim with quickness and itching the Bearcats within 5 points with 1;24 left in the game. With the score being 67-62. The Bearcats forced another turnover with their ball pressure down the stretch. Unfortunately, neither team could buy a basket with a jump ball off of the Owls turnover. The Bearcats started to foul with 39 seconds left Tai Strickland extended the Owls lead to 70-62. Bearcats Hayden Koval did give us the highlight play of the game with a thunderous putback dunk. Mason Madsen made a pull-up with 2 seconds left to make the game 74-71. In conclusion, the Bearcats came back with a vengeance trailing by 19 points in the first half, they came back to make the last 10 minutes in the second half a competitive match. Temple came out victorious winning the game 75-71.
