Feb. 3, 2007
Box Score
MT. PLEASANT, Mich. - The Bobcats erased a 10-point deficit with 8:37 left in the game and senior Whitney Davis made a layup with nine seconds remaining to give Ohio its first Mid-American Conference road victory, a 74-73 win over Central Michigan Saturday night at Rose Arena.
"We overcame a lot tonight," Head Coach Tim O'Shea said. "They made 14 threes for the game, which is probably more than they've made in the last three or four games combined. A lot of things went against us tonight, but this is a big win for us. This could be really significant. We found a way to beat a team who gave us their best."
Ohio (15-7, 6-3) earned its first MAC road win of the season and now has a perfect 6-0 record when playing on Saturday. The Bobcats finished the contest 26-of-48 (54-percent) and made 19-of-24 attempts from the free throw line. Ohio earned the conference victory despite shooting just 3-of-12 from downtown. The Chippewas leaned on the long distance shot all night and finished 14-of-29 from beyond the three-point arc. Central Michigan (8-13, 3-6) was 26-of-56 (46-percent) from the floor and 7-of-11 from the charity stripe.
The Bobcats used a 32-26 rebounding advantage in the win. Ohio led only three times in the game, the first at 2-0 and then twice late in the game by scores of 72-71 and the final score.
Ohio's inside men once again led the way to victory. Sophomore Jerome Tillman (Beavercreek, Ohio) led the Bobcats with 20 points and again recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds. He was 8-of-12 from the floor and has now scored in double figures in nine consecutive games and has posted a double-double in 11 of Ohio's 22 contests.
Junior Leon Williams (Baltimore, Md.) finished the contest with 16 points before fouling out late in the game. Williams was 5-of-8 from the floor to go along with five rebounds, two blocks and two assists. Davis (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and junior Bubba Walther (Cincinnati, Ohio) also reached double figures with 11 points each. Davis hit the game-winner and added three assists as each player was 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Senior Sonny Troutman (Indianapolis, Ind.) posted a game-best seven assists to go along with seven points.
Ohio got solid bench production from freshman Kenneth van Kempen (Weert, the Netherlands). The Bobcat big man posted nine points on 4-of-4 shooting for his highest total since the Nov. 19 contest against Yale. He added five rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench.
"I was really pleased with Kenneth van Kempen tonight," O'Shea said. "He gave us a tremendous boost off the bench. We certainly wouldn't have won the game tonight without van Kempen. Kenneth had a great night."
The Chippewas suffered defeat despite a career game from Eddie Spencer. Spencer, who entered the contest with a career-high of 16 points, totaled 29 points on 10-of-14 shooting. He was lights out from long range as he hit 7-of-11 shots from beyond the three-point line. Giordan Watson added 21 points as the pair combined for 50 of Central Michigan's 73 points. Jordan Bitzer finished with nine points in the Chippewa loss.
Despite temperatures hovering just above zero outdoors, the Bobcats and Chippewas kept the Rose Arena faithful warm by blistering the nets right out of the gate. Ohio made each of its first three field goal attempts, and by the 12:30 mark was 6-of-8 from the floor. Those numbers were not enough to keep up with Central Michigan though, as the hosts had already made five three-pointers at that juncture, and held a 21-15 advantage.
The Chippewas led by as many as nine points on two occasions in the opening half and were able to maintain at least a two-point edge throughout the rest of the half despite a series of mini-runs by Ohio. Spencer was the shooting star in the first half for the Chippewas as he tied a career high with 16 points and surpassed his previous best with four three-pointers in just 18 minutes of court time. Prior to Saturday he had never made more than three shots from downtown in a single game.
With a bucket by Williams with 3:13 remaining, Ohio trailed by just three points at 34-31. The Chippewas closed the half with an 8-4 run. Watson nailed a three at the buzzer as the home team took a 42-35 edge into the break. Although it capitalized on two trips to the free throw line, Ohio did not net another shot from the field in the half following Williams' bucket.
Central Michigan relied almost exclusively on the three ball in the first half, with 10 of its 14 field goal makes from behind the arc. Ohio shot 52-percent (12-of-23) from the floor and 91-percent (10-of-11) from the free throw line in the first frame, but the difference on the scoreboard was attributed to the comparison in three-point shooting, where the Bobcats were just 1-of-7.
Williams paced all Ohio scorers at the break with 10 while Jerome Tillman had eight tallies and Whitney Davis scored seven.
The Chippewas pushed the lead back to nine points less than a minute into the second half on a Justin Blevins jumper to make it 44-35, but Ohio was able to sustain momentum on the offensive end to get back into the game. The Bobcats outscored CMU 16-9 over the course of the next six-and-a-half minutes to draw even for the first time since the game was barely four minutes old. Ohio's van Kempen had seven points during the Bobcat spurt, including a driving lay-up to make it 51-51 with 12:09 remaining.
Central Michigan bounced right back, however, and extended to its biggest lead of the game in less than three minutes to make it 66-56 with 8:37 left. Things looked bleak for the Bobcats trailing by 10 points in the second half, but Ohio saved its best for last and finished the contest on an 18-7 run.
Walther sparked the run with a shot from downtown, his first and only of the night, to cut the Chippewa lead to seven points. Tillman then converted on an old-fashioned three-point play to pull the Bobcats within four at 66-62 with 6:39 left to play.
After a Watson layup made the score 68-62, Williams scored the next three points to pull Ohio within three. Spencer answered with another three, his seventh of the night, but the Bobcats scored the next seven points. Davis capped off the run with a pair of free throws to give Ohio its first lead since 2-0 at 72-71. Spencer put the Chippewas back on top with a layup but Davis came up big a layup of his own with just nine seconds left and the Ohio defense stopped the Chippewas when it mattered most to emerge from Mt. Pleasant with a 74-73 victory.
"It was great to see Whit get in there and make a big play for us," O'Shea said.
The Bobcats stay in the state of Michigan for another MAC road contest Tuesday against Western Michigan. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. from Kalamazoo, Mich.
