Feb. 21, 2009
Final Stats
RICHMOND, Ky. â€" The snow swirled outside Eastern Kentucky University’s McBrayer Arena and the Ohio University men’s basketball team found an equally chilly reception inside, falling 73-51 Saturday night in an ESPNU BracketBusters matchup. The Bobcats’ record dropped to 13-13, while Eastern Kentucky improved to 18-10 and 10-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Senior forward Jerome Tillman (Beavercreek, Ohio) stretched his double-figure scoring streak to 31 straight games with 19 points and led the Bobcats with eight rebounds. Tillman has reached at least 10 points in 34 of his last 35 games. Senior forward Justin Orr (Cincinnati, Ohio) joined him in double digits, contributing 11 points to the effort. Orr knocked down three shots from 3-point range, leading the team from behind the arc.
EKU was led by Mike Rose’s double-double performance of 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Jorge Camacho had a team-high 17 points. Justin Stommes and Josh Taylor also poured in 13 apiece.
Tillman used seven field goals to help him reach 19 points, supplementing his field goal numbers with a team-leading five made free throws. Those free throws push Tillman, the MAC’s leader in points and rebounds, closer to Geno Ford on Ohio’s career made free throws list. He currently stands at 435, just 15 short of Ford for fifth in the record books. Tillman has made 84 of his last 112 attempts, a clip of 75 percent.
Ohio’s BracketBusters record evened at 3-3 with the loss.
The Green & White outrebounded Eastern Kentucky 28-26 and had the edge in both offensive rebounds (13-12) and defensive rebounds (15-14).
Orr and sophomore forward Adetunji Adedipe (Orange Valley, Ohio) followed Tillman’s lead with four rebounds apiece. Orr and senior guard Michael Allen (Detroit, Mich.) spread the ball around and paced the Bobcats with four assists each.
Eastern Kentucky came out with the hot hands, shooting 67 percent in the first half. The Colonels raced to a fast start by scoring the first points of the game and building a 25-9 advantage, but the Bobcats clawed their way back on the strength of six different Ohio players’ scoring efforts, led by Tillman’s 15 first half points.
Michael Allen connected with sophomore forward DeVaughn Washington (Virginia Beach, Va.) for Washington’s driving layup, followed by an Allen steal and an Orr trey to bring the Green & White within 12 with 7:02 left in the first. However, Eastern Kentucky traded buckets with Ohio the rest of the half and took a 42-26 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Ohio exhibited some shooting prowess of its own in the first stanza, answering Eastern Kentucky by shooting 45 percent from the field. Ohio also outrebounded Eastern Kentucky in the first, 12-9.
Steven Coleman drew first blood for Ohio in the second half, hitting a 3-pointer one minute after halftime. Tillman poured in two free throws to pull the Green & White within 11, but they got no closer. Ohio finished by shooting 42 percent from the field and drained six 3-pointers in the contest.
Ohio will return to the friendly confines of the Convocation Center and when MAC play resumes against Miami on Thursday. The Bobcats will be looking for their first regular-season sweep of the RedHawks since the 1999-2000 season and the third straight win against Miami at home. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
