Nov. 16, 2008
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ATHENS, Ohio - Senior forward Jerome Tillman collected the 19th double-double of his career and sophomore guard Tommy Freeman scored a career-high 18 points to lead the Ohio University men's basketball team to a 74-55 season-opening victory over William & Mary on Sunday.
The victory improved the Bobcats' winning streak in season-opening home games to 14 in a row, and their string of overall wins in season openers to five. Head coach John Groce also became the fourth-straight Ohio leader to win his debut with the program, and the ninth overall.
"All of our guys were ready to play today, and we competed very hard," Groce said. "We'll know more once we watch the film, but I was very pleased with the effort and unselfishness we showed today, as well as our poise in the second half."
Tillman (Beavercreek, Ohio) finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, both game highs, moving him within eight of tying former Ohio star Shaun Stonerook for the fourth-most double-doubles by a Bobcat since 1990. He also added two blocks and two steals in a team-high 34 minutes.
"Experience is the greatest teacher, and Jerome offers a lot of leadership and experience to our team," Groce said. "Guys feed off of how he responds to different situations, and both he and Michael Allen have done a great job leading our team this year."
Freeman (Muncie, Ind.) got going early, scoring the first six points of the game on a pair of long-distance buckets, and finished the game with career highs in points (18), field goals (six), three-point field goals (four) and minutes played (30). He also took several key charges, including two on consecutive possessions, and knocked down both of his attempts from the line.
Senior forward Justin Orr (Cincinnati, Ohio) chipped in with 16 points off the bench, connecting on both of his attempts from beyond the arc, and also added five rebounds and a career high-tying four assists. Senior guard Michael Allen (Detroit, Mich.) and freshman guard Frankie Dobbs (Lakewood, Ohio) both tallied seven points on the day, while combing for seven assists and just two turnovers.
"I'm a big believer that game day is the players' day," Groce said. "I want them making plays, not over-thinking things. I think we did a good job of that today. We played unselfishly, which was one of the things that I was most pleased with."
William & Mary drew to within 13 with just over six minutes left in regulation, but back-to-back layups by Tillman and Allen pushed the lead back to 17, 63-46, and forced another timeout by the Tribe.
The Bobcats scored the game's first eight points, with the first six come by way of three-point field goals from Freeman, to force the Tribe into a timeout at the 16:53 mark of the opening period. A three-point play by Allen put Ohio up, 12-6, with 13:25 remaining in the half, but William & Mary was able to battle back and tie the score at 17-17 with just under eight minutes until the half. Orr found his shooting stroke late in the period, scoring all nine of his first-half points in the last 4:09 of the frame to send the Green & White into the break with a 30-28 edge.
Freeman led all players with 10 points in the first half, while Orr followed up with nine and Tillman chipped in with eight points and six boards. Ohio knocked down 7-of-9 free throws and forced nine William & Mary turnovers in the first half, while also picking up eight second-chance points on five offensive rebounds.
After the Tribe knotted the score at 30-30 early in the second half, Ohio ripped off a 12-2 run, powered by five points from Freeman to grab a 42-32 advantage and force William & Mary into a timeout. A three-point play by junior center Kenneth van Kempen (Weert, The Netherlands) gave the Bobcats a 12-point edge at 50-38 with just under 12 minutes left to play, and Tillman prompted the Tribe to burn another timeout after throwing down a thunderous dunk on the fast break to put the Green & White out in front by a score of 59-42.
The Tribe wouldn't get closer than 13 points for the remainder of the game, as Ohio closed out a second half in which it knocked down 60.7 percent (17-of-28) of its field goal attempts by hitting five of its last seven shots from the field.
Tillman netted 11 of his 19 after the break, while both Orr and Dobbs each added seven second-half points to lead the Bobcat offense down the stretch. Ohio also forced 10 second-half turnovers by the Tribe, and held the visitors to just 36.0 percent shooting in the second half, including a 12.5 percent mark after halftime.
Ohio will face its first road test of the year on Saturday, when it squares off with Austin Peay, an NCAA Tournament participant from a year ago, in Clarksville, Tenn. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET, and live stats are tentatively slated to be available via ohiobobcats.com.
