Cincinnati 59, North Carolina Central 50: Gary Clark led a balanced attack with 12 points as the host Bearcats prevailed at the Emerald Coast Classic.

Clark added eight rebounds and four blocked shots for Cincinnati (4-0), making 3-of-5 attempts from the field while knocking down all six of his free throws. Octavius Ellis added 11 points and eight boards while Kevin Johnson, Jermaine Sanders and Farad Cobb each scored nine points.

Nimrod Hilliard's 14 points paced North Carolina Central (1-3), while Karamo Jawara, Jordan Parks and Dante Holmes added 10 each. The Eagles were outrebounded 33-15 on the night, including 14-4 on the offensive glass.

The Bearcats broke open a close game just past the midway point of the opening half, as a pair of Ellis dunks punctuated a 9-2 run that opened up a seven-point advantage. The Eagles stayed within reach in the latter stages of the period, as Hilliard and Holmes knocked down 3-pointers in the final 3 1/2 minutes to make it a 31-25 game at the intermission.

A Parks three-point play drew North Carolina Central to within one possession early in the second half, but Ellis answered with a jumper out of a TV timeout and Johnson added a 3-pointer following an Ellis block. Cobb added a long-range shot just past the midway point of the half, and the Eagles didn't get closer than six points the rest of the way.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Bearcats finished with 11 turnovers after coming into the game with 46 in their first three games. ... Cobb finished 3-of-8 from beyond the arc and now has nine of Cincinnati's 20 3-pointers. ... North Carolina attempted just five free throws, making four of them.