CINCINNATI, Ohio – Alabama A&M (1-2, 0-0 SWAC) stayed with perennial power Cincinnati (3-0, 0-0 AAC) into the second half before falling by an 89-66 score in an NCAA Division I men's basketball game on Tuesday, November 16.
 
Junior forward Jalen Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.) led all scorers with an impressive career- high 30 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field and went 8-of-9 at the foul line while hauling in seven boards.
 
 Junior guard Garrett Hicks (Madison, Ala.) finished with 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. Freshman guard Eric Lee (Tampa, Fla.) notched eight points, six rebounds and four steals while junior guard Cameron Tucker (Birmingham, Ala.) finished with six points and four assists.
 
The Bearcats would take control early, jumping out to a 19-9 lead that consisted of two treys from Jeremiah Davenport within the first seven minutes of play before the Bulldogs would then respond with a 9-3 run to close the gap to 22-18 at the 10:37 minute mark.
 
Cincinnati would then deliver an 8-4 burst to stretch the lead to eight before the Bulldogs had their own 8-3 run in a span of 3:45 that included four points from Johnson to narrow the gap to just 33-30. From there, the Bearcats would lead by no more than five points over the final three-plus minutes before heading to the break up 37-32.
 
The Bulldogs would start the second half with a mini 4-2 run that closed the gap to 39-36 before the Bearcats would unleash a 30-8 run that included nine points each from Mike Saunders, Jr. and David DeJulius to widen the gap to 69-44 with 8:17 to play.
 
They would then eventually stretch that lead to 77-48 just under two and a half minutes later. Alabama A&M would then have a 13-2 rally with Lee notching six points alongside Johnson securing four free throws to narrow the gap to 79-61 with three minutes left on the clock.
 
From there Cincinnati would respond as they unleashed a 10-5 rally that included four points from Jarrett Hensley to close out the 89-66 victory.
 
DeJulius led the Bearcats with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting while Saunders, Jr. finished with 14 points and three steals. Davenport notched 12 points while Ody Oguama had 13 points and eight boards. Newman III finished with eight points, five rebounds and five assists and Mika Adams-Woods also notched eight points and five assists.
 
The Bulldogs return to action on Sunday, November 21 when they drive down I-65 to face off against Alabama-Birmingham. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. at Bartow Arena.