The last game of the first round matched up ninth-seeded Cincinnati from the American Conference and eighth-seeded Saint Joseph’s from the Atlantic 10.  This one would be a great ending of the first two-days of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.  The teams traded baskets early on, but the Hawks of Saint Joe’s found their stride and pulled away a little with a 25-17 lead with just under eight minutes remaining to play in the first half.  Cincinnati battled back to take a 36-33 lead before Saint Joe’s ended the half on an 8-4 run to regain the lead.  The Hawks, led by their star player DeAndre Bembry, looked as if they were going to pull away in the second half.  They jumped out to a 63-51 lead and were on the verge of blowing the Bearcats of Cincinnati right out of the gym.  The Bearcats embarked on a 20-5 run to save their season as they took a 71-68 lead on a three pointer by Jacob Evans with just over five minutes remaining in the game.  With sixteen seconds left in the game, Cincinnati went ahead 76-75 on a dunk by Evans.  After a Saint Joe’s timeout, the Hawks regained the lead on a three by Isaiah Miles with eleven ticks to go. The ensuing Bearcat possession was utter craziness. Octavious Ellis of Cincinnati made a dunk as time expired and appeared to send the game into overtime.  The officials, however, after looking at the replay for a lengthy amount of time, announced that the ball was still in Ellis’s hands when the game clock hit zero and waived off the basket.  Saint Joe’s was led in scoring by their best player and reigning A10 player of the year DeAndre Bembry who dropped in 23 points.  Hawks hero Isaiah Miles poured in 19 points to go along with his game-winning three.  The Bearcats were led by Jacob Miles who had a game high 26 points.

Saint Joe’s will now move on and face Oregon in the round of 32.