Dec. 2, 2006
Box Score | Quotes
ATHENS, Ohio - The Bobcats scored 10 of the first 12 points in overtime and five Ohio players scored in double figures as the Bobcats fought off a pesky Marshall team to earn an 84-78 overtime win Saturday at the Convocation Center.
Ohio (3-1, 0-0) had to head to overtime in order to secure the victory despite leading the contest by 16 points late in the first half. The Bobcats used excellent free throw shooting in the win as they went 37-of-42 (88.1-percent) from the charity stripe. Ohio was 23-of-50 (46-percent) from the floor in the win despite a 1-for-9 (11.1-percent) performance from beyond the three-point arc. Ohio held decisive advantages in both points in the paint and second chance points in the victory. The Bobcats out-scored Marshall 38-18 in the paint and held a 20-10 advantage in second chance points. Marshall scored 33 points off the bench compared to Ohio's four.
Junior Leon Williams (Baltimore, Md.) led the team with 18 points and also posted a game-high seven rebounds and four steals. Williams converted on 8-of-9 free throw attempts and also added one block and one assist. Sophomore Jerome Tillman (Beavercreek, Ohio) finished with 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor and 7-of-9 shooting from the charity stripe. Senior Whitney Davis (Ann Arbor, Mich.) scored 16 points, 14 in the first half, on 6-of-11 shooting in the game. Davis converted all four of his free throw attempts and added six rebounds in the win. Senior Sonny Troutman (Indianapolis, Ind.) scored 15 points in the game, 11 of them coming from the free throw line. Troutman was 11-of-12 from the charity stripe and added six rebounds and two assists for the Bobcats. Junior Bubba Walther (Cincinnati, Ohio) was the final Bobcat in double figures with 14 points, his second double-digit performance in as many games with the Bobcats. Walther went 7-of-8 from the free throw line.
Marshall finished 26-of-64 (40.6-percent) from the floor and was able to stay in the game with solid three-point shooting. The Thundering Herd finished 14-of-38 (36.8-percent) from downtown. Marshall took just 15 trips to the free throw line, converting on 12 of them, compared to Ohio's 42 free throw attempts.
Travis Aikens posted a game-best 19 points in the loss for Marshall and added a team-high six rebounds and three steals. Darryl Merthie posted a career-best 16 points and was 3-of-7 from beyond the three-point line. Merthie also co-led the team with four assists. Markel Humphrey, Tre Whitted and Mark Dorris also reached double-digits in scoring with 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Herd started the game on fire and scored eight of the game's first 10 points for a quick 8-2 lead. The Bobcats battled back behind Davis' strong first half, as he scored five unanswered points to give Ohio its first lead of the contest at 14-13 with 13 minutes remaining in the first half. The points were part of an 11-0 Ohio run that gave the Bobcats a 20-13 lead and forced a Marshall timeout. Davis was the scoring threat during the run with 10 of Ohio's first 20 points in the game. The run would continue for most of the half as Ohio outscored the Herd 26-6 from the 13:21 mark until just 3:40 remained in the game. The results was a 35-19 lead for Ohio's largest advantage of the contest. Marshall closed out the half strong with a 9-4 run to make the halftime score 39-30 in favor of the Bobcats.
Davis led all scorers at the break with 14 points and was just five points shy of his career-high at halftime. Humphrey led the Herd at the break with seven points. The Bobcats were able to jump to the halftime lead primarily in the paint as they held a 24-6 advantage in points in the paint at halftime.
The second half started out with a 5-0 Bobcat run to extend the lead to 44-30. The Herd answered right back with an 8-2 run to cut the lead to only eight points with less than 15 minutes remaining in the game. Ohio battled back in the next couple minutes and built a 51-38 lead, but the next three minutes belonged to the Thundering Herd as Marshall scored 14 unanswered points to take 52-51 lead, the team's first since 13-12 early in the first half. Williams finally ended a long Bobcat scoring drought with a pair of free throws with 7:58 left to play in regulation.
The rest of the half went back-and-forth, with neither team leading by more than three points the rest of the way. The Bobcats looked up at a 55-53 deficit, but a 5-0 gave the Bobcats a 58-55 lead with 5:37 remaining on the clock. With the score tied at 61, Troutman hit a jumper but Aikens answered right back with a three-point shot and a one-point Marshall lead. Tillman responded with a lay-up with 29 seconds on the clock and Walther connected on one-of-two free throw attempts with 10 seconds left in regulation for a 66-64 Bobcat lead. The lead would not hold up in regulation, however, as Aikens connected on a pair of free throws with four seconds left to tie the game. A half-court heave from Troutman was off the mark and the game headed to overtime.
The Bobcats scored the first five points of the extra period and still led by a score of 78-70 with just 43 seconds left to play. Marshall made things interesting with five straight points but Ohio went a perfect 13-of-13 from the free throw line in overtime, including 6-of-6 down the stretch, to ice the game and emerge with a hard-earned, 84-78 win in overtime.
Ohio is back in action this Wednesday when the Bobcats travel to New York for a match up with St. Bonaventure. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.
