Ohio Gives Gators All They Could Handle in 67-62 Loss
Bobcats Electrify Crowd with 25-5 Second-Half Run Against SEC Champs
Contact: Jim Stephan
3/18/2005
Junior guard Mychal Green paced the Bobcats on Friday with 24 points, just one shy of his career high. |
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Friday's NCAA Tournament Scoreboard
Ohio's 2004-05 Results
Bobcat Season Statistics
Box Score NASHVILLE ? For the Ohio men?s basketball team, a season that was characterized by so many improbable Bobcat comebacks came to a close Friday in the NCAA Tournament following another ? and possibly the most amazing ? comeback against fourth-seeded Florida (24-7). Ohio (21-11) overcame a 20-point deficit in the second half to tie the score at 60-60 but fell by the final of 67-62.
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?The one thing you can say about our team is that we are not boring,? said Ohio head coach Tim O?Shea. ?We?ve consistently managed these types of comebacks all year long and to do it in an NCAA Tournament game against the SEC champ, a team that just came off a 17-point win over Kentucky? I think we represented the Mid-American Conference very well today.?
In the first half, the Gators showed why they are the SEC Tournament champions ? they are big and powerful team that can shoot from the outside. But the Bobcats showed how they won the MAC postseason crown with a determined attack and never-say-die attitude.
Following a three-pointer by sophomore forward Sonny Troutman (Indianapolis), Ohio led 25-22 with 5:29 remaining. Junior guard Mychal Green (Columbus) led the early charge with 11 points while Troutman had six, freshmen Leon Williams (Baltimore) and Jeremy Fears (Joliet, Ill.) each had three and senior forward Terren Harbut (Lexington, Ky.) contributed two. Florida, however, went on an 11-2 run to close out the half and held a 36-28 advantage at the break.
The Gators kept the spurt going after intermission when David Lee scored three hoops, Corey Brewer knocked down a three-pointer and Matt Walsh hit two more from the line to forge a 47-32 lead with 13:45 to go. Chris Richard?s layup pushed the edge to 55-35 with 12 minutes left.
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Bobcat fans were out in full force at Friday's game in Nashville.
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But Ohio, which overcame a 19-point deficit in the Mid-American Conference championship game, got 13 more points from Green and tied the game at 60-60 with 2:15 left on Green?s sixth three-pointer of the game.
?Coach always tells us to keep shooting,? Green said. ?I kind of struggled with my shot in the MAC Tournament but he told me to keep my head up and keep shooting and it will come. Today I was hot? I was feeling good and I was able to knock down some shots.?
Anthony Roberson, the leading scorer in the Southeastern Conference, was just 2-of-14 from the floor before he converted an airball by Lee with 42 seconds left. After the Bobcats committed an unforced error on their next possession, Roberson was fouled and made two free throws to make it 65-60 with 26 ticks remaining.
Green scored 24 points and Troutman added 13 for Ohio, which was making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1994. Williams and Fears both ended with nine points while Harbut led the Bobcats on the boards with eight rebounds.
Walsh had 18 points and seven assists as the Gators won their eighth straight game and advanced past the first round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in four years under head coach Billy Donovan. Lee had 14 points and eight rebounds and Roberson finished with 11 for Florida, which shot 39 percent (21-of-54).
?I couldn?t be prouder of my team,? said O?Shea. ?We have most of these guys back next year. Hopefully we can get back here and advance next year.?
