Midway through the second half, Gavin Block got into a scrap for a jump ball and went crashing onto the hardwood with Eastern Michigan forward James Thompson IV.
Following the incident, Block stood, ball tucked tightly in his hands and turned toward the student section, meriting the loudest crowd response to that point of Saturday’s game.
What followed came with consequences, though, as Block and the Bobcats watched a seven-point lead turn into a demoralizing 53-49 loss to the Eagles, snapping an unbeaten home record.
Yet now entering the toughest portion of the schedule to date — Ohio plays four of its next five games on the road — the team will need to play its best basketball without its best player, at least for the moment.
Antonio Campbell, the reigning Mid-American Conference Player of The Year, injured his right foot and left the Eastern loss three minutes into the game. At practice Monday, coach Saul Phillips said Campbell will travel to Akron on Tuesday, but his status is day-to-day.
Assuming he misses the Akron game, Ohio’s (11-4, 3-1 MAC) impressive start to conference play can easily be humbled.
“We can go as easily from 3-0 as we can to 3-2,” coach Saul Phillips said after the loss Saturday.
And with a tough five-game stretch imminent, Phillips will need collective improvement from his team.
Defensively, the Bobcats are best in the MAC. Only allowing 53 points to an Eastern team that averaged 83 points entering the game is sound support. Ohio is just as strong offensively, only now more emphasis will rest on the front court.
For as much as Jason Carter, Ohio’s freshman backup power forward, stepped up against Eastern, a similar performance will be required against Akron. Carter recorded his first collegiate double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Likewise, Kenny Kaminski, who starts ahead of Carter, will need to be more influential in the low post. Fresh off hitting a last-second jumper to beat Buffalo earlier in the week, Kaminski struggled against Eastern, finishing with 10 points but no rebounds.
Doug Taylor, who will likely replace Campbell, had three points and seven rebounds. To put the frontcourt numbers in context, Akron’s big man Isaiah Johnson, has averaged 15.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game — stats similar to Campbell’s 16.4 points and 8.9 rebounds.
“It’s really the same offense,” Gavin Block said about Ohio adjusting its game plan around Campbell’s absence. “We just gotta have the next guy step up.”
Ohio and Akron will tip off at 7 p.m. on ESPN3.
