With seven days off the Bearcats were able to lick their wounds from the Crosstown Shootout loss and welcome the Colgate Raiders into Fifth Third Arena on a nice Saturday evening. It was question on if star guard Jarron Cumberland would play, but he ended up being in the starting lineup Big man Jay Sorolla returned after not seeing action since November 14th against Alabama A&M. Would the Bearcats notch their 8th win of the season?
The first half was a story of missing good shots and turnovers for the Bearcats, but the hot shooting of Jaevin Cumberland and Mika Adams-Woods were able to give the Bearcats a 32-25 lead at the half. Jae. Cumberland 3-of-4 from the floor and 1-of-2 from three for a total of seven points to lead the Bearcats. Adams-Woods had six points on 2-of-2 from three. Jar. Cumberland didn’t shoot it well, but had four rebounds and three assists in the first half. Keith Williams didn’t shoot it great in the first half either, but had six rebounds, a steal and two blocks. The Bearcats had 10 turnovers in the first half and that’s what allowed Colgate to stay close.
In the second half the Bearcats got strong play from Williams and Chris Vogt, but the play of Rapolas Ivanauskas and Nelly Cummings matched that of the Bearcats. Williams had back to back dunks to push the lead to 7 points with 10:49 left in the second half. Those plays had Fifth Third Arena going crazy, but with 2:15 they took a led of 5 points and it seemed they had it on lock. Fast forward some missed free throws, turnovers and made shots by Colgate and you have a tied game with 8 seconds left in the game. Jar. Cumberland shot a half court three with 4.6 seconds that was rebounded by Colgate’s Tucker Richardson, who was fouled by Jae. Cumberland and Richardson split the free throws and Colgate goes how with an upset win 67-66. This play has everybody clueless and now the Bearcats are 6-4 with Tennessee coming to town on Wednesday and heading to Chicago to face Iowa.
Check out the Jar. Cumberland and my vlog with Tim Daniel after the game.
