Feb. 23, 2008

Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes

ATHENS , Ohio - In the 500^{th Ohio men's basketball game played inside the Convocation Center , the Bobcats pulled out a stunning victory, scoring 50 points in the second half to rally to a 69-57 victory against George Mason on ESPN Bracketbuster Saturday.}

In the first half, the Bobcats shot just 27% from the field, but in the second half they couldn't be stopped. Even Leon Williams made his first ever attempted 3-pointer.

Down 32-19 at the break, the Bobcats stormed out of the locker room and cut the Patriots' lead to just two points, 33-31, with 15:01 left to play. George Mason pushed the lead back up but the Bobcats earned their first lead of the game, 41-40, on a Bert Whittington IV ( Hankamer, Texas ) fast break lay-up with 10:45 left to play.

GMU pushed ahead again but Bubba Walther ( Cincinnati, Ohio ) put the Bobcats ahead for good, 49-48, on a jumper with 5:31 left to play.

The play of the game came with 2:26 on the clock. Williams (Baltimore, Md.), who had never attempted a 3-point field goal in his more than three years with the Bobcats, took the ball on an inbounds pass with just a few seconds remaining on the shot clock and, while heavily covered, launched the ball from the right wing and hit nothing but net. The referees needed a few minutes to review the shot to see if Williams had both feet behind the line, but they ruled in his favor and awarded him his first ever three-point basket.

Ohio iced the come-from-behind victory with Walther, Whittington and Michael Allen ( Detroit, Mich. ) combining to hit seven of their last eight free-throw attempts to end the game.

Walther finished as the contest's leading scorer with 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor, 5-of-11 from beyond the arc, while Williams recorded the 40^{th double-double of his career by tallying 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.}

Also scoring in double-digits for the Bobcats were Whittington IV with 12 and Jerome Tillman ( Beavercreek, Ohio ) with 10.

For George Mason, guard Folarin Campbell led the team with 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting and guard John Vaughan tallied 12 points. They were the only two Patriots in double-figures.

Will Thomas, a common high school opponent of Williams while playing in Baltimore and GMU's leading scorer averaging 16.5 points per game, took just six total shots, making three. Thomas finished the afternoon with nine points and nine boards.

The Patriots shot 63% from the field in the first half but hit on just 7-of-25 field goal attempts in the second half and scored only 25 points in the second half, compared to 50 from the Bobcats.

It was the 14^{th game this season the Bobcats held an opponent under 60 points.}

Ohio improved its record to 18-9 overall with the non-conference ESPN Bracketbuster victory, while George Mason fell to 19-9.

In 500 games in The Convocation Center, the Bobcats hold an all-time mark of 381-119 and remain perfect at home this season (11-0). The `Cats also boast a 20 game winning-streak in non-conference home games.

Ohio will get back into MAC action next weekend when the Bobcats play Miami in Oxford, Ohio . The Bobcats defeated the Redhawks 72-63 in The Convo in just their second conference game of the season.