Dec. 10, 2006
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Senior Sonny Troutman (Indianapolis, Ind.) had a milestone day, becoming the 28th player in school history to record 1,000 career points and breaking the Bobcat record for career steals to help Ohio earn a 79-72 win against St.Joseph's on Sunday afternoon in the finale of the NABC Classic at Louisville's Freedom Hall. The Bobcats improved to 6-2 overall with their second win of the tournament.
"This is a big win for us," Head Coach Tim O'Shea said. "We have a long way to go, but this is the type of win that can get you into the postseason. St.Joseph's is a very talented team and will do well in the Atlantic 10. This is a win that will get us some respect across the country."
Troutman tallied 18 points in the contest to push his career scoring total to 1,015. He had one steal to take sole possession of first place in the Ohio record books with 198 in his four seasons. The record-breaker came in the first half and was punctuated by a break-away dunk. Troutman also paced the Bobcats with five assists. In the three games in Lousiville, the senior averaged 18.7 points on 52.9 percent shooting, 3.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.0 steals.
"It's only been eight games, but he's (Troutman) having one of those all-conference type of years," O'Shea said. "If he keeps this up we can really do something. He and Whitney Davis have both had tremendous senior years so far."
Sophomore Jerome Tillman (Beavercreek, Ohio) and junior Bubba Walther (Cincinnati, Ohio) led the Bobcats with 19 points each. Both did most of their scoring after halftime with Tillman registering 17 points and Walther notching 15 points in the second stanza. Tillman and junior Leon Williams (Baltimore, Md.) tied for the team lead with six rebounds. Williams was one of four starters in double figures with 11 points despite playing only 24 minutes after suffering a first-half facial cut and second-half foul trouble.
Senior Whitney Davis (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and freshman Kenneth van Kempen (Weert, Netherlands) rounded out the Bobcat scoring with eight points and four points, respectively. Van Kempen also pulled down four rebounds.
Rob Ferguson led three St. Joe's players in double figures with 16 and tied for the team lead with eight boards. Jawan Carter tallied 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc, and Garrett Williamson added 13 points.
The Hawks (5-4), who start three players 6-8 or taller, outrebounded the Bobcats, 33-24, but were unable to contain Ohio's shooters. One day after shooting a school-record 72.7 percent from the field in its win against Bellarmine, the Bobcats hit 60.4 percent (29-48) of their field goal attempts against the Hawks. Both Tillman and Walther were 7-for-9 from the floor. Walther connected on four of his six three-point attempts.
The Bobcats outscored St. Joseph's 42-18 in the paint, including netting 18 of their first 19 points from inside the lane. Ohio also held a 10-point advantage in points off turnovers and an 18-2 lead in fast-break points.
Ohio never trailed in the contest, scoring the first five points of the game. The Bobcats were able to stretch their lead to eight points at 13-5 on Troutman's record-breaking steal and dunk with 16:01 left. Ohio's lead fluctuated between five and eight points until a layup by Davis at the 6:55 mark gave the Bobcats a 10-point cushion at 28-18. Ohio would lead by as many as 12 in the first half on two occasions, but the Hawks closed the opening period on a 10-1 run to pull within 33-30 at intermission. Troutman led all scorers at halftime with 14 points.
The Bobcats were able to once again claim a double-digit lead, outscoring the Hawks 17-10 in the first 7:16 of the second half to take a 50-38 advantage. The next 4:30 belonged to St. Joseph's, however, as the Hawks used a 15-4 spurt to close the deficit to 54-53 with 8:14 left in the contest.
The two teams traded baskets, giving the Bobcats a 56-55 lead with 7:35 remaining. With Ohio nursing the one-point lead, Walther hit a floater in the lane to push the margin to three. Two free throws by Williams stretched the advantage to five points, and a Walther make from the charity stripe upped the lead to six. A Ferguson three-pointer cut the Ohio lead in half, but Walther then flashed his range, drilling a 30-footer to reclaim the six-point advantage. After a steal by Williams, Walther pulled up on a 2-on-1 break and fired in his fourth three-pointer of the game to give Ohio a nine-point cushion at 69-60 with 3:29 to go. Walther scored nine points in the Bobcat's 11-3 run.
"Those three shots he made -- the floater in the lane and the back-to-back threes --really broke their back," O'Shea said.
St. Joseph's had one more run in store. The Hawks cut the Ohio lead to four points at 73-69 with 50 seconds left, but the Bobcats iced the game from the foul line. Ohio connected on six consecutive free throws, including four by Tillman, to come away with the 79-72 victory.
Tillman finished his three-day run in Louisville averaging 20.0 points and 8.3 rebounds. He shot 61.8 percent from the floor, connecting on 21-of-34 shots.
"He's (Tillman) really coming into his own," O'Shea said. "He's been sensational. If he keeps this up, he'll certainly be one of the best players in the Mid-American Conference."
After a stretch of four games in five days, the Bobcats now have more than a week off before playing in the Arizona State Sleep America Classic. Ohio takes on Davidson on Dec. 21 before facing either the host Sun Devils or North Carolina A&T on Dec. 22.
