Tonight the Bearcats welcomed in Bryant University to kick off the final game of the double header that took place here at Fifth Third Arena this afternoon, as the Woman’s team kicked off the day when they took on Ole Miss.
The Bearcats would look to be without starting forward Jeremiah Davenport as he went through pregame warmups, but was held out due to a minor injury, and graduate transfer Hayden Koval would look to start in his place. The Bearcats starting five would be Hayden Koval, Abdul Ado, Mika Adams-Woods, David DeJulius and John Newman.
The Bearcats got off to a slow start as they went 0-of-8 from the field to start the game. The Bearcats also found themselves in early foul trouble as junior guard Mika Adams-Woods picked up his second personal foul with 18:22 remaining in the first half, so the Bearcats were looking to see big minutes from Mike Saunders early. The Bearcats recorded their first field goal 7:30 minutes into the first half when Viktor Lakhin knocked down a floater.
The Bearcats found some momentum after Adams-Woods knocked down a big three, and Newman found his way through the Bryant defense for a big two handed slam. The Bearcats were in for a defensive chest match it had seemed like early on, However, the Bearcats started to find ways to get to the basket and free throw line, after consecutive layups from Mike Saunders, and David DeJulius. The Bearcats seemed to find their groove following that sequence as they made went down and scored on their 7th possession straight to take a 27-22 lead, and Wes Miller was really starting to pick up the tempo and attack the rim.
The Bearcats turned up their tempo late in the half as they seemed to be driving and attacking the rim very often. The Bearcats were led by David DeJulius who had a game high 14 points at the break, followed by Mika Adams-Woods with seven points.
The Bearcats got off to another slow start in the second half as Bryant came out and tied this game up forcing coach Miller to take a timeout early in the half to regroup. However, The Bearcats responded with a quick 5 points following a triple from Mike Saunders, and Ody Oguama layup. That sparked the Bearcats as they held Bryant scoreless for nearly five minutes, resulting in an 8-0 run to take a 48-37 lead, following back- to- back dunks in transition from Oguama and Newman. The Bearcats kept their foot on the gas as they opened the flood gates as they led 59-45 with 6 minutes remaining after a made step back jumper from DeJulius.
The Bearcats really controlled the tempo of the second half after a quick 5 points from Bryant to start the half, the Bearcats busted out a 17-4 run to open this game up. The Bearcats seemed to find their groove as they really started attacking the rim hard in the second half, as they were also locked in on defense, as they were creating a lot of turnovers and getting out in transition for easy layups.
The game got chippy down the stretch as Bryant forward Hall Elisias was ejected from the game after receiving a flagrant 2 foul, after a battle inside with Mason Madsen on a free throw attempt.
The Bearcats held on to beat Bryant to go to 7-2 on the season. The Bearcats had four players in double digits, David DeJulius led the way for the Bearcats as he finished with a game high 16 points. Mike Saunders finished with 14, two rebounds and four assists. Viktor Lakhin had a huge game as he finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds, for his first double-double of the season. Mika Adams-Woods finished with 10 points and four assists.
Coach Miller postgame did give an update on Jeremiah Davenport saying, “He got rolled up on Friday and was in a boot the last two days, with a mild ankle sprain, and woke up this morning feeling like he could give it a go, but the training and medical staff, thought it would be best to rest the ankle.”
The Bearcats will now have a week off until their next match up which is versus Crosstown Rival Xavier this Saturday at 8:30 pm at the Cintas Center. The highly anticipated rivalry will have fans back in the stadium for the first Crosstown Shootout since 2019.
