Bobcats Suffer Second-Straight 64-63 Overtime Loss
Contact: Jim Stephan
2/21/2004
 Indianapolis native Sonny Troutman, a candidate for MAC Freshman of the Year, scored seven points in his hometown debut as a Bobcat on Saturday. |
INDIANAPOLIS ? Difficulties on the road continued for the Ohio men?s basketball team as it fought back from a 15-point deficit only to lose in overtime 64-63 at Butler in an ESPN Bracket Buster contest on Saturday.
Trailing 32-17 with 1:36 remaining in the first half, the Bobcats began a 13-0 run with a Jaivon Harris three-pointer. Another three by Thomas Stephens at the buzzer closed the gap to nine, 32-23, at halftime.
On a pair of Terren Harbut field goals and another trey from Harris, Ohio (9-16) scored the first seven points of the second half to make it 32-30 at the 15-minute mark.
The Bulldogs (13-12) scored nine straight, however, to reclaim an 11-point advantage with 10 minutes left in regulation.
Harris again produced from long range to start a Bobcat surge as Stephens followed with a three and Sonny Troutman added a field goal at the 7:00 mark to make it 41-38.
After a pair of Butler free throws pushed the lead to five, Jeff Halbert hit two straight three-pointers to give Ohio a 44-43 advantage with 5:15 remaining in the second half.
Then, with the Bulldogs leading 49-46, Halbert found the range from behind the arc once again to tie the score with 1:30 left in regulation.
Butler missed two three-point attempts on their ensuing possessions as Stephens hit a three and Harbut converted a pair of free throws to give the Bobcats a 54-49 advantage with 24.4 seconds remaining.
Bulldog senior Mike Monserez then nailed a three-pointer with 15.2 ticks left and a Troutman inbounds pass to Harbut went out of bounds.
?I take responsibility for having a freshman inbound the ball,? said Ohio head coach Tim O?Shea. ?He?s going to be a very good player for us and he?s going to have chances to win games in the future. I feel badly because I put him in a very difficult position and I really take responsibility for that.?
In the final seconds of regulation, Duane Lightfoot tipped in an Avery Sheets miss to tie the score and a Harbut field goal attempt at the other end rimmed out as the clock expired.
In overtime, the Bobcats took a quick 56-54 lead on a pair of Troutman free throws but Butler responded with five straight points before a Stephens layup closed the gap to one.
The Bulldogs then outscored Ohio 5-2 the rest of the way before a Harbut three-pointer with 1.7 seconds remaining produced the final score.
Harris led the Bobcats with 16 points while Harbut added 15, Stephens 11 and Halbert nine. Clay McGowen scored two points in addition to grabbing a career-high 12 rebounds for Ohio.
?I thought it was Clay McGowen?s best game so far in an Ohio uniform the way he rebounded the ball,? said O?Shea about the 6-11 junior center from Westerville. ?He played tremendous on the backboards for us and I was certainly glad to see that.?
For the game, the Bobcats made 20-of-51 (39 percent) from the field, 10-of-27 (37 percent) from three-point range and 13-of-19 (68 percent) from the line. Butler, meanwhile, hit 24-of-62 (39 percent) from the field, 9-of-33 (27 percent) from behind the arc and 7-of-11 (64 percent) from the charity stripe.
Ohio will next travel to Eastern Michigan for a 7 p.m. game on Wednesday before returning to the Convocation Center on Sunday, Feb. 29, to host Marshall. That 2 p.m. contest, crucial to the Bobcats? hopes of hosting a first-round Mid-American Conference Tournament game, will be televised by the Ohio Sports Network and broadcast live on WSAZ, WAX/WAOH and ONN.
For ticket information, please contact the Ohio Athletics Ticket Office at 740-593-1299, toll-free at 800-575-CATS or online by CLICKING HERE!
