Feb. 5, 2014
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Ohio University men's basketball (16-6, 6-3) team dropped a 90-74 contest at Western Michigan (13-8, 6-3) on Wednesday evening inside University Arena.
Ohio shot above 50 percent (51.9, 28-54) for the second time in three games and held a 28-22 edge in rebounding, but could not overcome a 59.6 percent (28-47) effort from Western Michigan, including a 61.5 percent (8-13) mark from 3-point territory. Both marks were season highs for a Bobcat opponent.
Ohio also committed 16 turnovers, which led to 24 Broncos' points.
Four Bobcats scored in double figures Wednesday, paced by junior forward Maurice Ndour (Mbour, Senegal) who led the team with 20 points (9-15 FG) and added six rebounds in 36 minutes of action. It marked Ndour's third-straight game with at least 20 points.
Senior guard Nick Kellogg (Westerville, Ohio) added 13 points and a game-high five assists, while senior guard/forward T.J. Hall (Gainesville, Fla.) tallied 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Junior guard Stevie Taylor (Gahanna, Ohio) chipped in 12 points and four assists in 35 minutes.
Ohio knocked down nine of its first 12 shots to build an early 10-point lead at 24-14. The Broncos cut the lead to four (31-27) with under four minutes to play and after Ohio built its edge back to nine (36-27), WMU closed the half on a 10-0 run to take a 37-36 lead into the break.
The teams traded baskets for the early portion of the second half before an up-and-under lay-in from Kellogg gave Ohio a 52-50 lead with 11 minutes to play. A Stevie Taylor 3-pointer put Ohio up by three (57-54), but the Broncos used a 13-2 run to build an eight-point lead (67-59) with 6:21 to play.
The Broncos extended their edge to 13 (77-64) with less than four minutes to play and the Bobcats could not move closer than nine (78-69) for the remainder of the game.
The setback snapped Ohio's three-game winning streak. The Green & White are now 6-4 when trailing at the half this season.
Ohio returns home for the first of two important "Battle of the Bricks" matchups with archrival Miami. The `Cats host the RedHawks on Saturday (Feb. 8) at 2 p.m. The game will be televised live on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel/ESPN3 and also will air on the Ohio IMG Sports Network, with pre-game coverage beginning at 1:30 p.m.
#OhioMBB
