Ryan Graziano poured in a career-high 31 points by shooting 8-of-14 from beyond the arc to help the Bearcats defeat the Gothic Knights of New Jersey City University, 81-77, on Friday afternoon at Gwynedd Mercy University in Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania.

The Bearcats advance tomorrow to play top-seed and weekend host Gwynedd Mercy at 3:00 p.m. in the semifinal round.

Today's quarterfinal featured 15 ties and 26 lead changes until the Bearcats pulled away in the final three minutes.

Tied at 61, the Bearcats scored eight straight points to jump ahead 69-61 with 2:27 left.

NJCU made a free throw to cut it to 69-62, but a pair of free throws by Adnan Bajrami built the advantage up to 71-62.

NJCU went a furious rally in the final minute to get as close as 81-77 after a three by Jeff Haddock, Jr. with 12 seconds left, but the Bearcats held on for their 19th win of the season.

Graziano put on a shooting show with his 31 points and also grabbed six rebounds.

Bajrami had double-figures again with 17 points and Emil Purisic contributed 11 points with eight rebounds. Jack Reese came off the bench to dish out seven assists.

Denzel Banks and Jaimik Moore scored 15 points each for the Gothic Knights from the New Jersey Athletic Conference.