Carlos Hart scored 15 points to help Eastern Michigan hold off host Cincinnati 64-56 in a nonconference game Tuesday.
The Bearcats (5-2) trailed by as many as 15 in the second half before finally finding their range from the 3-point line to cut the lead to 48-47 with 5:03 left.
Eastern Michigan (4-3) hit its free throws down the stretch to hand Cincinnati its first home loss.
The Bearcats were cold from the field for much of the game, but Kerr Kriisa and Day Day Thomas each hit a pair of 3-pointers to cut the Eagles’ lead to 48-45 with 5:23 remaining.
A Thomas steal and a Tyler McKinley layup cut it to one.
Hart followed with a pair of free throws and hit a 3-pointer to get the lead back up to 55-47 with 3:01 left.
Mohammad Habhab added 13 points for the Eagles and Jon Sanders II had 10.
Thomas led Cincinnati with 17 points and Sencire Harris added 12.
The Eagles used a 17-1 run in the middle of the first half to lead 36-23 at the break. During the run, the Bearcats went 0-for-13 from the field and had four turnovers.
Mehki Ellison and Mak Manciel started the run with back-to-back 3-pointers. Manciel added another with 10:22 left to give Eastern Michigan a 21-10 lead.
Braelon Green finished the run with a layup at the 6:02 mark for a 27-10 Eagles lead.
Thomas, who had eight points in the first half, finally hit a shot for the Bearcats, a 3-pointer with 4:57 to go.
That sparked a 9-0 Cincinnati run over the next 2:12 that ended with a Harris layup to cut the Eastern Michigan lead to 27-19.
The Eagles answered right back, however, scoring nine of the final 13 points in the half.
A Sanders’ 3-pointer with 35 seconds left made it 34-22.
The Eagles shot 50% from the field compared to 30% for the Bearcats in the half, but didn’t have any players in double figures as Sanders and Manciel had eight each.
For the game, Cincinnati hit only 19 of 56 shots (33.9%) from the field and made just 7 of 29 3-pointers (24.1%). The Eagles were 19 of 44 (43.2%) and 7 of 21 (33.3%), respectively.
Eastern Michigan owned the boards, out rebounding Cincinnati 36-29.
