CINCINNATI, Ohio - Fighting tooth and nail with every possession, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (23-11, 11-5 WCC) left it all on the floor on Wednesday night as the Dons narrowly fell to Cincinnati (21-14, 7-11 Big 12), 73-72, in overtime at Fifth Third Arena.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Trading baskets to open the contest, Mike Sharavjamts scored the first point of the ballgame on a free throw just 45 seconds into play before Marcus Williams knocked down his first attempt from beyond-the-arc to give San Francisco an early 4-2 lead at 18:25.
• After the Bearcats responded by evening the score at four on a dunk from Aziz Bandaogo, Malik Thomas nailed two triples of his own, one at 16:51 and one at 14:24, to put the Dons on top, 10-8, just over five minutes into regulation.
• Exchanging blows in the minutes to follow, neither side could pull away in the opening minutes of the game, but Thomas' third triple of the first half at 9:56 kept the green and gold in front, 24-23.
• Using their home crowd to their advantage, Cincinnati answered by reeling off five straight points to take a 28-24 advantage on a stepback jumper from Jizzle James at 8:14. Shortly thereafter, consecutive baskets in the paint from Jonathan Mogbo tied things up again, 28-28, with 6:40 remaining in the first half.
• Using another 5-0 run to take the lead back, a three-pointer from Day Day Thomas put the Bearcats up 33-28 at 3:23. Fighting with each possession until the break, Sharavjamts threw down an alley oop off an assist from Robby Beasley with just over thirty seconds left as San Francisco trailed Cincinnati by just three points, 38-35, at halftime.
• Similar to the first twenty minutes of action, the Bearcats opened the second half with a jumper in the paint from Bandaogo, but back-to-back baskets from Thomas and Ndewdo Newbury made it a one-point game, 40-39, at 18:06.
• Just a few minutes later, San Francisco regained control, 44-43, on a three-pointer from Williams at 15:53, but the Bearcats clawed back. After a jumper from Thomas and a layup from Volodymyr Markovetskyy gave the Dons a three-point advantage, 48-45, Cincinnati fought again as UC went on to score ten straight points over the next five plus minutes to catapult themselves back on top, 57-48, with 6:57 left on the game clock.
• Staying within striking distance, the green and gold trailed by nine, 65-56, with 2:21 to play. However, USF never lost faith down the stretch as five straight points and a steal cut it to a four-point game, 65-61, with 1:40 remaining.
• Scoring nine of the final eleven points for San Francisco to close out regulation, Thomas made it a three-point game with a made free throw at 1:18 before nailing arguably his biggest shot of the season, a contested triple from the corner next to the USF bench, with around nine seconds left to tie the score at 67 all. Following one final stop on the defensive end, San Francisco rallied to force an overtime period.
• Continuing his career night, Thomas scored all five points for the Dons in overtime, which included putting USF up by four, 72-68, with 2:38 left. Unfortunately, Cincinnati dug deep when it mattered most as James brought the Bearcats within two at 1:47 before Simas Lukosius sank the game-winning triple coming off of a screen on the wing with just under four seconds left. Unable to get one final attempt off before the buzzer, Cincinnati would go on to edge the Dons, 73-72, to advance to the second round of the NIT. 

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Enjoying a stellar night offensively, Thomas finished with a career-high 31 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 from distance (career-high). Additionally, the guard also made all four of his free throws while also pulling down five rebounds in 37 total minutes.
• Flirting with a triple double to close out the campaign, Mogbo wrapped up his impressive debut season on the Hilltop with 10 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 1 assist in 34 total minutes for the Dons.
• Alongside Thomas and Mogbo, Newbury (13 points) and Williams (10 points) also finished in double figures for the Dons.
• As a team, San Francisco led Cincinnati in points in the paint (36-24), points off turnovers (18-8) and fast break points (11-4).

POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:

• To view the full postgame interview with head coach Chris Gerlufsen, please click here.

THANK YOU, DONS FANS:
Thank you to all of our dedicated fans and supporters for your loyalty throughout the 2023-24 season. We can't wait to see you back at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center in November!
 
FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the San Francisco men's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsMBB on Twitter, @USFDonsMBB on Instagram and @USFDonsMBB on Facebook. 
 
MERCHANDISE:
Want to dress like the Dons? Get your official San Francisco Dons gear from the University of San Francisco bookstore today! Click here to purchase.
 
SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsor - ABM - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.