Jan. 28, 2007

Box Score

MUNCIE, Ind. - Sophomore Jerome Tillman scored 19 points and junior Leon Williams surpassed 1,000 points for his career but it was not enough for the Bobcats to defeat Ball State in a 69-57 loss to the Cardinals Sunday at Worthen Arena.

"We didn't rebound the well and we just had a bad day all around," Head Coach Tim O'Shea said. "(Ball State) had a lead at home and started to feel comfortable and get their confidence. (Skip) Mills played very well for them. We had an opportunity in the first half to put some points on the board but weren't able to do that. We have got to get over this problem we're having of playing on the road."

Ohio (13-7, 4-3) finished the contest 20-of-54 (37-percent) from the floras the Bobcats recorded a season-low in points. The Cardinals (7-13, 3-4) were 23-of-48 (48-percent) for the game. The biggest difference in the contest came on the glass, where Ball State finished with a 38-25 rebounding edge. The Cardinals received 21 points from their bench while Ohio did not have a point from a reserve player. Ball State was also able to get to the line nine more times than the Bobcats, finishing 19-of-25 from the charity stripe against 10-of-16 for Ohio.

Tillman's (Beavercreek, Ohio) 19 points marked the 17th consecutive game that the sophomore Bobcat has reached double figures in scoring. He was 6-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-4 from three-point range. Tillman also recorded six rebounds, two blocks, a steal and an assist.

Williams (Baltimore, Md.) finished with 14 points to become the 29th player in Ohio history to reach 1,000 points for his career. Teammate Sonny Troutman (Indianapolis, Ind.) accomplished the task earlier this season. Williams finished 6-of-9 from the floor and posted a team-best eight rebounds. The Bobcats got eight points apiece from Troutman, Bubba Walther (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Whitney Davis (Ann Arbor, Mich.). Troutman led the team with six assists while Walther dished out five. Troutman, who is already Ohio's all-time steals leader, added four to his career total in the loss.

Skip Mills led the Cardinals and all scorers with 20 points and added five steals, five rebounds and five assists in the win. Anthony Newell finished with 19 points and six rebounds while Peyton Stovall added 12 and Chris Ames finished with 10. Micah Rollin led all players with nine rebounds in the contest.

Thanks to a strong start on the defensive end, the Bobcats were able to jump out to an early 6-0 advantage. The Ohio defense forced five Ball State turnovers in the first two-and-a-half minutes of play and held the Cardinals without a field goal until the 14:48 mark.

The tide would gradually turn on the Bobcats, however, as Ball State put together a 9-2 run in just more than three minutes of game clock to take its first lead of the contest, 9-8, at the 12:43 mark. The Cardinals extended their spurt to 13-2 as Ohio missed six-straight shots during a five minute drought and fell behind 13-8.

Both teams struggled from the field throughout most of the first period as Ohio made just five of its first 15 field goal attempts, and Ball State started just 5-of-17. The host Cardinals built their largest lead of the half up to eight points, 27-19, on a Mills jumper with 44 seconds left in the half, but Ohio was able to net five of the final six points in the frame to cut the Ball State lead to 28-22 at the break.

Each team committed 10 turnovers in the half, but the Cardinals held a distinct advantage on the boards with a 22-9 edge, including a 10-1 total on the offensive glass that resulted in nine second-chance points. The Bobcats were 9-of-23 (39-percent) in the first half and 2-of-9 from long range. Ball State finished the half 10-of-27 (37-percent) and only 2-of-12 from beyond the three-point arc. Ohio was paced by Leon Williams' eight points at the break, while Ball State was led by Mills' eight.

As action opened in the second half, Ohio continued to claw its way back into the contest. Williams recorded four of the Bobcats' first seven points in the half to help Ohio draw within one point at 39-38 with 14:04 remaining in the game. The two teams traded mini-runs as Ball State reeled off six-straight points in just more than a minute, but Ohio scored five in a row to cut the Cardinal advantage to 45-43.

Ohio could not sustain the momentum, however, as Ball State ran off nine in a row to extend to its biggest lead of the game at that point, 54-43. The Cardinals then pushed the lead to 12 points on a couple of occasions to keep Ohio out of striking distance.

With a jumper in the paint with 4:13 remaining, Williams became the 29th player in Ohio history to surpass the 1,000-point total for a career. The bucket was two of just five points that Ohio scored during an eight-minute stretch, however, as the Cardinal advantage rarely slipped under double figures in the 69-57 Ball State win.

Ohio returns home for another MAC battle on Wednesday when the Bobcats host Toledo at 7:00 p.m. at the Convocation Center in Athens.