CINCINNATI, Ohio - Carson Warren-Newsome scored a career-high 18 points but a late scoring run gave Cincinnati the separation it needed to claim a 74-63 victory over the Milwaukee men's basketball team Friday night at Fifth Third Arena.
 
The Panthers (0-4) took their final lead on a Warren-Newsome three with just over 10 minutes to go at 49-48. The Bearcats (2-1), a team receiving votes in the preseason Associated Press Top 25, turned momentum from there with a 16-4 scoring run that decided it.
 
"I thought we did enough good things to keep us in the game," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "You have to point to our guys and their fight. To be up by one, in an environment like this, we just need to continue to work and pull one of these games out."
 
Warren-Newsome topped his former best of 16 set against Green Bay last year, adding a career-high seven assists to go along with six rebounds. He finished 6-of-10 from the floor, hitting all four of his shots from long-distance.
 
"Carson was good for us and made some very clutch shots," Baldwin said. "He kept us in the game in the first half and also made some really nice plays in the second half. He has good ability and we want to make sure that we continue to help him develop and get better."
 
Darius Roy added 13 points, while DeAndre Abram was also in double-figures with 10.
 
"Our guys continue to fight, they are playing hard and I told them, 'we are close'," Baldwin said. "We just have to shore up the details and make sure that we are as sharp as we can be, especially late in games."
 
All five starters recorded double-figure scoring lines for the Bearcats, led by 17 from Cane Broome. Tre Scott (15 pts/10 reb) and Nysier Brooks (12/10) added double-doubles.
 
The Panthers shot 52 percent in the first half, yet were hampered by nine turnovers which resulted in a 33-33 tie at the break. Back-and-forth out of the locker room, Bobby Arthur-Williams hit a pair of free throws at the 16:16 mark to tie the game at 39-all.
 
Cincinnati made a run, scoring seven in a row, capped by a dunk that forced an MKE timeout that made the score 46-39.
 
Undaunted against a team that came in 26-1 in its last 27 games at home, the Panthers responded with a scoring run of their own – with Warren-Newsome a bucket, Abram a big triple from the wing and a fastbreak layup by Roy resulting in the fifth tie of the night at 46-46.
 
The Bearcats had a quick answer, making a basket to retake the lead. On the ensuing possession, Warren-Newsome hit a fadeaway three from the left wing, falling out of bounds as the ball swished through the net to give Milwaukee the 49-48 advantage with 10:34 to play.
 
The home team had a final answer at that point. The Panthers were unable to hold off that 16-4 scoring run that decided the game, cutting the deficit to as low as seven in the final minute before running out of time.
 
Milwaukee came out strong again, with a Jake Wright three making it 7-2 and a Vance Johnson triple giving MKE its largest lead of the game at 12-3. A Wil Sessoms dunk made it 14-7, but six in a row tightened it up at 14-12, forcing a timeout.
 
The Bearcats used a first-half run of 12-2 to take a 19-16 lead. Milwaukee had an answer, with an Abram three sending the game to halftime at 33-33.
 
MKE finished the night shooting 44.6 percent (26-of-56), hitting nine three-pointers. Cincinnati started cold early but finished at 50 percent (29-of-58) and won the rebounding battle, 37-25.
 
Up next, the Panthers return home for the start of the Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic, with a pair of home games tipping off the event. The first of those sees Milwaukee hosting LIU Brooklyn Nov. 20, set for a tip-off time of 7 p.m. at UWM Panther Arena.