With less than three minutes to play in the first half of the University of Cincinnati – Clermont’s 85-79 win over Miami Hamilton at home on Saturday, January 4, the Cougars held a comfortable 20-point lead.
Ten minutes of game time later, and that lead was down to five. Miami Hamilton rallied in the second half, but couldn’t quite complete the comeback in the Cougars’ victory.
At the 9:22 mark of the second half, Miami Hamilton had a chance to take the lead thanks to sloppy play by UC Clermont which was only overshadowed by the team’s prowess at the free-throw line.
“We had some key free-throws at the end,” head coach Steve Ellis said. “I thought we did a good job at the free-throw line and even our threes. The one thing that hurt us, we had 19 turnovers. That’s the most we had all year.”
Luckily for the Cougars, they were able to force a turnover of their own, converting a layup to build the lead back to four points. Miami Hamilton trimmed the lead back to two with 1:15 left, but West Clermont grad John Aicholtz hit a bucket to put his team ahead by four with less than 10 seconds elft.
Miami Hamilton missed a three, and pair of Kort Justice free-throws put the game away. Aicholtz then stole the ensuing inbound, for good measure, but the Cougars had already clinched a victory thanks to a quick mental realignment.
“We kind of refocused the last five minutes of the game,” Ellis said. “It helps when you make shots, but we got a couple key steals that helped us. That’s what we’ve been doing all year long, and it kind of drives me nuts, but give the other team credit. That was a good team we just beat there.”
Three Cougars finished in double-digits offensively. Justice and Clay Spivey both tallied 18, with Aicholtz chipping in 14. Kali Dia tallied eight points and Georgetown’s Jackson Gregory scored three off the bench.
The win was a nice rebound for the Cougars, who suffered their first defeat in 12 games on December 28, 2019 against Edison State.
“We didn’t play well in that game,” Ellis said. “That was our first away game in a month, and I’m not making excuses but we just didn’t play very well.”
UC Clermont has a big home game coming up on Saturday, January 11. The Cougars are slated to host Bryant & Stratton College (Buffalo), the No. 5-ranked team in USCAA’s Division I at 1 p.m.
“I’m glad we’re back in the flow of things,” Ellis said. “The kids will go back to class here soon. We’ve got another game Wednesday and Saturday, so that’s good.”
The Cougars returned to the court on Wednesday, January 8 with a home matchup against Boyce. UC Clermont earned an 89-77 win behind 29 points from Aicholtz and 19 from Justice.