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ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio Men's Basketball team (11-9, 3-4 MAC) were led to victory Wednesday night by Graduate student forward Dwight Wilson III (Tallahassee, Fla.), defeating Western Michigan (6-13, 2-4 MAC), 88-76. Wilson III secured his new career high in scoring with a total of 31 points for the Bobcats.
Wilson III secured his new career high of 31 points going 13-of-16 from the field and 5-of-7 from the free throw line. Wilson III also grabbed 11 rebounds; five offensive and six defensive. Freshman guard AJ Brown (Orlando, Fla.), was another key player for the Bobcats securing 16 points. Brown went 6-of-10 from the field, 1-of-3 from the three, and 3-of-4 from the free throw line.
Overall, Ohio shot 50 percent from the field, went 9-of-26 from three and was 13-of-18 from the line, while WMU shot 46 percent from the field, 29 percent from three and was 17-of-27 from the line. Ohio out-rebounded WMU 41-33, had 12 assists to their 10, and forced eight Bronco turnovers.
"We had great energy from start, great energy in the second half," head coach Jeff Boals said. "We shared the basketball and had some really good individual performances. Big key like we've been talking about was five total turnovers and one in the second half. When we take care of the ball, we get good shots and good things are gonna happen. But AJ Clayton, AJ Brown were really big off the bench and gave us a good left scoring and rebounding defensively. And then Dwight Wilson, was a man. A phenomenal individual performance. Our guys did a great job of feeding the basketball, putting him in a position to score and he definitely delivered it."
From the start, Ohio took control of the basketball grabbing the first four points of the matchup with a layup and turnaround jumper from Wilson III. Wilson III grabbed the two baskets off offensive rebounds to capitalize on Ohio's possession and give them a 4-0 lead. Western Michigan attempted to quickly close the scoring gap, but Ohio pushed back with a three from senior forward Ben Roderick (Powell, Ohio). After the first media timeout the Broncos came out putting immediate pressure on Ohio's defense, gaining their first lead of the game at 10-9. In response, junior guard Jaylin Hunter (Manchester, Conn.), hit a three pointer assisted by sophomore forward AJ Clayton (Roseville, Ohio) to give the lead back to the Bobcats at 12-10.
Western Michigan immediately matched Ohio with a turnaround jumper to get the score tied at 12 all with seven minutes left of the half. Another three shortly followed; this time from Brown to initiate a Bobcat scoring run. With 10:48 left on the clock, Ohio led by eight which was the biggest lead of the half. Western Michigan cut down on the Bobcats lead by forcing fouls and securing 4 made free throws, getting the score to 20-22.
After WMU cut the Bobcats' lead to two, a three pointer from Roderick and a second chance layup from Wilson III, put the Bobcats back up approaching the five minute mark. Moments later The Broncos went back to back with three point jumpers to give them their first lead of the game at 28-27. Moments later, Ohio reclaimed the lead with layups from Wilson III and Brown, followed by a three point jumper off the hands of Hunter. To finish out the first half, Clayton hit one more three from downtown to give the Bobcats a 39-35 lead heading into the locker room.
At the half, Ohio shot 44 percent from the field, 40 percent from the three point line and were 1-of-4 from the line, while WMU shot 52 percent from the field, 41 percent from three and were 6-of-11 from the line. Ohio was out-rebounded by the Broncos, 16-21, but capitalized on assists with seven compared to Western Michigan's six. The Bobcats also forced four WMU turnovers and Ben Roderick recorded one block.
At the end of the first twenty minutes, Ohio was led by Wilson III who totaled 11 points, going 5-of-7 from the field and grabbing eight rebounds; five offensive and three defensive. Hunter followed Wilson III with 8 points, going 3-of-3 from the field and 2-of-2 from the three point line.
The second half opened up with a dunk from Western Michigan's Titus Wright to get the Broncos within one possession of the Bobcats, but it was Roderick with another three point response to get Ohio ahead once more at 42-37. Western Michigan quickly increased offensive pressure scoring six in a row, before Clayton sank back to back three point jumpers with 13 minutes left to play.
The Bobcats held their lead over Western Michigan for the rest of the second half, with a driving layup from Hunter, and a dunk from Wilson III. The Bobcats continued to pull ahead with a 12 point lead going into a media timeout with two minutes left in the game. The lead extended to 16 points after a dunk from Brown, assisted by Hunter.
For Western Michigan, Lamar Norman Jr. led with 20 points, followed by Wright with 16 points and 5 rebounds.
Up next, the Bobcats will travel to Akron this Saturday (Jan. 28), where they will face off against the Zips. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. and the game can be streamed on ESPN3.
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