Jan. 9, 2011
Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery 
ATHENS, Ohio - If today's contest was any type of indicator, this will be an exciting year for the Ohio men's basketball team. In the 187th meeting between two bitter and fierce rivals, it was Miami topping the Bobcats in triple overtime on Sunday afternoon, 92-88.
Miami (6-9, 1-0) started off the game shooting well from the floor, hitting four of their first six shots en route to an early 9-2 lead. The Bobcats (7-8, 0-1) answered back almost immediately on the strength of a three-pointer from D.J. Cooper (Chicago, Ill.) and Tommy Freeman (Muncie, Ind.) to cut the deficit to one.
The middle stretch of the first half was quite the seesaw affair, as each team connected on numerous opportunities. With 3:46 remaining in the first half, Ohio held a 24-22 lead. At this point, Freeman had shot 3-for-4 from distance, giving him nine points to lead all scorers.
Chris McHenry of the RedHawks hit a three with 13 seconds remaining in the first half to send the teams to their respective locker rooms tied up at 33. The exciting first half saw four ties and five lead changes, with each team's largest lead being seven points. Antonio Ballard led Miami at the half with 12 points while Cooper and Freeman had each scored nine.
The second half began in a similar fashion to the first, as Miami jumped out to a 47-39 lead via a 14-6 run. This spurt came to a thunderous end at the 14:33 mark when DeVaughn Washington (Virginia Beach, Va.) slammed home an alley-oop dunk courtesy of Freeman's assist. On Ohio's next offensive possession, Freeman hit a triple to put the Bobcats within three points at 47-44. The three-point basket was the 200th of Freeman's impressive career at Ohio.
With seven minutes and 48 seconds remaining in the contest, Ohio went on a 19-7 run to take a 58-54 lead. The RedHawks would not go down without a fight, and answered back with a 9-2 run of their own that put them ahead 63-60 with 4:27 to go.
T.J. Hall (Gainesville, Fla.) came up with a huge three just seconds after coming off the bench to level the scores at 63 apiece with 2:01 left in the game. Following a lay-in by Miami's Julian Mavunga, Cooper was fouled after earning a steal and knocked down consecutive free throws to knot it up at 65-65.
Following a series of turnovers, Miami took possession with nine seconds on the clock. Good Bobcat defense led to a long three-point attempt by Mavunga that hit the back iron and caromed out as the buzzer signaled the end of regulation. With that, Ohio went to overtime for the second consecutive game and the third time in the 2010-11 season.
Cooper came up with an important play to open up the scoring in overtime, laying one in through a foul. He was then able to convert on the ensuing free throw to finish the three-point play and give Ohio a 68-65 lead.
Facing a 73-70 deficit with 39 seconds remaining, Cooper hit a long three-pointer to tie it up. The basket marks the sixth time that the sophomore guard has scored 20 or more points in a game this season. Another Mavunga three-pointer came up empty near the end of the first overtime and the teams proceeded to a second overtime period.
The game remained in a deadlock following the entirety of the second overtime period, as 50 minutes of basketball proved not enough to decide the first installment of the fierce rivalry in 2011.
Miami finally edged Ohio in the third overtime, scoring 13 points to escape the Convocation Center with a victory. Overall, there were 16 ties in the game and 13 lead changes.
Cooper finished with a game-high 27 points and 11 assists to go along with five rebounds. Freeman added 17 on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc and it was the sixth time in the last seven games where he has scored at least 15 points.
Ivo Baltic (Kansas City, Mo.) came up with 16 points for the Green & White, a season-high and his sixth-straight game of double-figure scoring. Washington also finished in double figures for Ohio, and like Freeman has now scored in double figures during six of the last seven contests.
Ballard led Miami with a career-high 26 points and 12 rebounds, Nick Winbush added 19 points and nine rebounds, Mavunga tacked on 15 points and eight rebounds and McHenry totaled 11 points and four assists.
The teams were evenly matches when it came to shooting the basketball with Ohio making 43.8 percent of its tries and Miami connecting on 42.4 percent of theirs. Each squad was able to convert 11 three-pointers and Miami made 25 free throws as opposed to Ohio's 21.
The ability of the 'Cats to force 20 turnovers canceled out the fact that Miami held a +18 margin on the glass. The rebounding disparity also helped the RedHawks gain a 19-2 advantage on second chance points.
Miami and Ohio actually played another triple-overtime contest back in 1992 and the result and setting were both eerily similar as the 'Cats also lost on that day at home, 91-86.
Ohio's next game is a January 12 date at MAC East rival Akron. Tipoff time is set for 7 pm.
