A great day for basketball on Wednesday afternoon. The Bearcats came in looking to avenge their loss to Xavier, coming into the game with a 1-1 record, looking to gain some momentum heading into a tough stretch and conference play. The big story of the game before the tip was that freshman Tari Eason was going to be getting the start over Rapolas Ivanauskas at power forward. Eason has been a valuable piece off the bench and has earned the respect of head coach John Brannen.
Bearcats jumped out the gate with great defense to start out the game as Furman was held without a point for the first 4 and 1/2 minutes to start off the game. The home team started with a lot of pick roll action as they got off to a 13-6 run to begin the first half, but turnovers were killer in the latter part of the first half. The Bearcats were in control of the game in the first half for the most part as they finished the half with a 10-2 run. Keith Williams had a solid first half leading the momentum charge for the Bearcats as he had 14 points on top of an assist and two rebounds. Eason was active all over the first half in his first career start as he had six points with a steal, block and being active all over the court. The first half was exactly what the Cats needed the only thing was if the Cats would be able to finish it off in the second half?
Eason and the Beracats defense tried to fend off a Furman comeback in the second as two key blocks from Eason and Williams had the Bearcats bench up and rowdy. Furman would not go away though as they went on a 10-0 run to cut the lead down to four with 12 minutes to go in the game. Big buckets from Williams and Mika Adams-Woods pushed the lead back to eight points with under 10 to go. The Bearcats went back and forth with Furman in the final 10 minutes of the game. Big time shots from Williams and DeJulius really helped keep the momentum during crunch time. It came down to the last minute as things were tight with Cincinnati up by 3 with 36 seconds remaining, but Adams-Woods knocked the clutch free throws to give the Beracats a five point lead. A three by Furman made things interesting going into the final possession, but Adams-Woods was clutch, knocked down the final free throws to put the game away and watch the Bearcats walk away with a 78-73 victory.
Williams had a strong bounce back game as he finished with 27 points five rebounds and an assist. Eason in his first career start provided valuable minutes and finished with eight points, two rebounds, two assist and two blocks and a steal to go along with it. Adams-Woods was clutch when the Bearcats needed him, finished with seven points and an assist, but most importantly 4-of-4 from the line. The Bearcats needed every single point to squeak in this win.
Up next for the Bearcats they head on the road to take on the 12th ranked Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday.
