Oct. 31, 2010

Box Score

ATHENS, Ohio - Ohio placed five players in double figures and shot 54.5 percent from the floor in the first exhibition tuneup of the 2010-11 season on Sunday afternoon, an 86-50 win over Wooster on Halloween in The Convo.

T.J. Hall (Gainesville, Fla.), in his first contest wearing the Green & White, poured in 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, connected on 3-of-4 three-point attempts and snagged four rebounds to lead the way offensively. Ivo Baltic (Kansas City, Mo.) and Tommy Freeman each had 12 points, with the senior from Muncie also dishing out five assists.

D.J. Cooper (Chicago, Ill.)and freshman Ricardo Johnson (Covington, Ky.) each finished with 11 for the Bobcats while Reggie Keely (University Heights, Ohio) added eight points and grabbed a game-high six rebounds.

The 'Cats were a blistering 16-of-28 in the first half (57.1%) and didn't cool off much in the second half as they continued to shoot over 50 percent from the floor (14-27, 51.9%).At the same time, Ohio limited Wooster to 35.8 percent shooting in the contest.

Ohio also connected on 11 three-point attempts (47.8%) and limited Wooster to 1-of-13 shooting from beyond the arc in the first half. The Bobcats also won the turnover (+6) and rebound battle (+12) against the Scots, one of the top teams perennially in Division III men's basketball.

In the first half, Ohio only led 16-12 with 7:29 remaining but used a 22-4 to blow things up before the break. A dunk by Keely started things off and the sophomore added six points during the run. Hall, Freeman, Asown Sayles (McKeesport, Pa.) and Nick Kellogg (Westerville, Ohio) all connected on three-pointers during the half-ending run. During the run, Ohio's defense also forced Wooster into missing 11-straight shot attempts

Ohio finished with a held a 43-18 advantage in points in the pain and their bench, which only went five players deep, outscored the 13-man bench for Wooster, 41-23. The 'Cats also scored 27 points off Wooster turnovers and outscored the Scots in transition 17-2.

The Bobcats have their final exhibition tuneup next Saturday at 2 p.m. when they host Walsh.