Cincinnati 52, St. Francis (PA) 37: Octavius Ellis posted 13 points and eight rebounds in his Division I debut as the Bearcats opened their season with a home victory over the Red Flash.

Ellis – a junior-college transfer from Trinity Valley College – added three steals and two blocks for Cincinnati (1-0), which improved to 12-0 all-time against the Northeast Conference. Gary Clark contributed 10 points, six boards and four steals as the Bearcats managed to win comfortably despite going 2-of-14 from the 3-point line.

Ronnie Drinnon paced St. Francis (0-1) with nine points and Ben Millaud-Meunier tallied eight as the Red Flash were held to their lowest offensive output since scoring 35 points against Drexel in December 2009. Preseason All-NEC forward Earl Brown was held to six points and committed six of St. Francis’ 21 turnovers.

Ge'Lawn Guyn drained a 3-pointer and hit a layup to give Cincinnati the lead for good in the opening minutes before Quadri Moore contributed seven points during an 11-4 surge that allowed the Bearcats to build their first double-digit lead with 7 ½ minutes left in the first half. St. Francis went nearly 10 minutes without a field goal, but hit seven free throws over that stretch and settled for a 12-point halftime deficit.

The Red Flash converted their first field-goal attempt of the second half before going scoreless over the 6 ½ minutes while six straight points from Clark widened Cincinnati’s advantage to 18. Millaud-Meunier sparked an 11-2 run with a pair of 3-pointers as St. Francis rallied to within nine with just over seven minutes to go, but Ellis’ thunderous dunk stopped the surge and the Bearcats held the Red Flash to one field goal thereafter to pull away.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Cincinnati improved to 22-1 in season openers at Fifth Third Arena. … The Bearcats have won 51 of their last 55 non-conference regular-season home games while St. Francis has dropped 25 of its last 27 non-conference contests, regardless of venue. … Cincinnati honored its first All-American, Dick Dallmer (1948-50), at halftime.