The Bearcats would keep their foot on the gas after a 9-point run to end the first half sparked a 7-point run to start the second half as they outscored the Titans 16-0 to take a 44-28 lead with 17:43 remaining in the second half. The Titans would settle down and look to close the gap, but had to do it without leading scorer Antoine Davis for a couple minutes after appearing to get poked in the eye and went back to the locker room with training staff before quickly returning.
The Bearcats would keep their foot on the gas as they held a 52-33 lead with just under 12 minutes remaining in the second half, as they held the Titans to just one of seven shooting to start the second half which is just under 14% from the field.
Things would get a little chippy as David DeJulius was continuing to make it impossible for Antonie Davis to get anything going offensively as he was held to 5-of-18 shooting with just 12 points as the Titans trailed the Bearcats 62-47.
The Bearcats would hold on to defeat Detroit Mercy 72-54 behind a huge night from Viktor Lakhin who finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds. The Bearcats also saw three others score in double figures, (DeJulius, Nolley, Adams-Woods). However, the Bearcats did a great job locking down Antione Davis, who finished 6-of-20 from the field with 17 points and a huge testament to that was the play of David DeJulius as Davis entered tonight averaging 25 points per game.
“I was impressed with David DeJulius. Antoine Davis is a terrific player, and I mean a really good player,” said Wes Miller. “He has seen about everything you can throw at him. and I thought David did a good as a job you could have done when guarding him. I can’t imagine a lot of teams hold Davis to under 17 points. Tip my cap to David as that was very fun to watch. He was tremendous tonight.”
The Bearcats are now 9-4 as they head into AAC play on December 29th when they welcome in Tulane for a late-night showdown. The Bearcats know they have a very tough test ahead versus a very talented Tulane team, coached by Ron Hunter who is in his fourth season at the realm of the Green Wave.
“Non-conference is over and it gets real when league play starts,” said Miller. “I do like our improvement over the last three weeks, but that doesn’t get guaranteed anything. When we get back, we have to keep growing and take this up another level to compete the way we want to within the American Athletic Conference.”
