Nov. 10, 2007

Box Score |  Game Action 

CINCINNATI (AP) -Marcus Sikes took a pass and made a driving layup for his only basket of the game with less than a second to play Saturday, giving Cincinnati a 66-64 victory over Western Carolina.

Deonta Vaughn drove the lane and drew defenders before passing to Sikes, who sneaked in along the left baseline for the pass and made the wide-open layup with 0.3 on the clock.

Marvin Gentry led Cincinnati (1-1) with 19 points, all but three of them in the second half. Gentry was 4-of-5 from behind the 3-point arc. Rashad Bishop and John Williamson each added 11.

The Bearcats lost to Belmont 86-75 on Friday night and had to rally to avoid their first 0-2 start since 1979. The game had 13 ties and eight lead changes.

Western Carolina (1-1) was led by sophomore Nick Aldridge, who had a game-high 22 points. He drove for a layup and was fouled by Adam Hrycaniuk with 23.5 seconds to play. The three-point play tied it at 64 and set up Cincinnati's final shot.

Sophomore Jake Robinson added 12 points, making all of his four 3-point shots. Freshman Mike Porrini had 11 for the Catamounts, who opened the season with a 63-60 win over Bowling Green on Friday.

Earlier Saturday, Bowling Green never trailed while beating Belmont 78-67. The games were part of the Peggy Cronin Classic, a three-day, round-robin tournament honoring the deceased mother of Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin.