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ATHENS, Ohio - An offensive outburst by senior forward Dwight Wilson III (Tallahassee, Fla.) led the Ohio men's basketball team (6-4, 2-2 MAC) to a narrow 76-73 victory over Northern Illinois (1-8, 0-4 MAC) Tuesday night at the Convocation Center.
"(Wilson III) is going to continue to grow and grow," said second-year head coach Jeff Boals. "He is in a role that he has never been in. There's never been a go-to guy, never played extended minutes, and he's obviously a big part of what we're doing. He and (Ben Vander Plas) have a good thing going. We got to keep going to him until (Jason Preston) gets back."
All five Ohio starters scored in double-digits. Wilson III put up 25 points, going 12-of-14 from the field, grabbed eight rebounds and added a pair of assists. Sophomore forward Ben Roderick (Powell, Ohio) finished the game with 13 points, going 5-of-9 from the field, 2-of-6 from the three and 1-of-1 from the line. Redshirt junior forward Ben Vander Plas (Ripon, Wis.) put up 11 points, going a perfect 6-of-6 from the line, grabbed five rebounds, dished out seven assists, and added three steals. Sophomore guard Lunden McDay (Akron, Ohio) finished the game with 11 points, going 3-of-8 from the field, 2-of-4 from the three, and 3-of-4 from the line. Freshman guard Mark Sears (Muscle Shoals, Ala.) scored 10 points, dished out seven assists, and grabbed two rebounds. Off the bench, sophomore guard Miles Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) put up six points, going 2-of-5 from three-point range.
As a team, Ohio shot 49.1 percent from the field, 42.1 percent from three-point range, and 70.6 percent from the free throw line, while Northern Illinois shot 45.8 percent from the field, 47.6 percent from the three, and 64.3 percent from the free throw line. Northern Illinois out-rebounded Ohio 38-28. Ohio dished out 21 assists to Northern Illinois' 13 and Ohio logged six steals to Northern Illinois' three.
For Northern Illinois, Zool Kueth put up 22 points, going 6-of-9 from three-point range, while Darius Beane scored 16 points.
NIU won the tip and would get on the board first. An early foul would send McDay to the line to keep the score tied early. A 10-2 run by Ohio would give the Bobcats a 17-7 lead with 13:56 remaining. Back-to-back threes and a free throw by Northern Illinois would cut Ohio's lead to three.
Brown sank a three and a pair of layups from Wilson III and Sears to extend Ohio's lead to 10 with 7:00 to go. The Huskies would score on a jumper and a pair of free throws brought the score 28-22 with 5:31 left. Ohio would take a 42-31 lead into the locker room at halftime.
At the half, Ohio shot 51.7 percent from the field, 45.5 percent from three-point range, and went 7-of-10 from the free throw line. Northern Illinois shot 35.5 percent from the field, 30.0 percent from the three, and went 6-of-10 from the free throw line. The Huskies out-rebounded Ohio 21-16, while the Bobcats dished out 10 assists to Northern Illinois' six.
Wilson III led all Ohio players with 12 points and five rebounds at the half, while Roderick had 11 points and an assist.
Vander Plas put down a pair of free throws to open second half scoring at 17:38. The Huskies hit a pair of threes to bring the score to 48-37 with 15:39 remaining. Vander Plas sent a pass through traffic to a wide open Brown who sank a three with 12:33 left in the second half.
Northern Illinois would continue to close the gap, hitting a pair of layups and a dunk to bring the game to 56-48 with 9:31 to go. Both teams would trade a flurry of buckets over the next few minutes. A three followed by a jumper by Northern Illinois cut Ohio's lead to 67-60. Northern Illinois sank a trio of threes, further shortening Ohio's lead to 72-69 with 2:31 left. Sears would answer with a three of his own. The Huskies would add a pair of layups in the final 38 seconds, but a free throw by McDay would seal the 76-73 victory for the Bobcats.
Up next, Ohio will travel to Toledo, Ohio for a Mid-American Conference matchup with the Toledo Rockets on Friday, Jan 8. Tip is set for 6:30 p.m. at Savage Arena and can be seen on CBS Sports Network.
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