Ellis Dozier came in as a substitution for Jaaron Simmons with just 12.5 seconds left. The game was already out of reach.
It wasn't just any substitution, however.
The Convo's crowd stood up and applauded the Bobcat point guard louder than they had all afternoon — he deserved it, after all.
The only thing that could stop Simmons on this day was coach Saul Phillips taking him out for a curtain call.
Simmons put up a career-high 38 points, 10 rebounds and five assists on the way to Ohio's biggest win of the season, an 85-70 win over Akron on Saturday.
Against a team that clobbered them just over two weeks ago, the Bobcats responded with a game that could be remembered as the biggest of the season. The Zips entered the game 19-3, unbeaten in the Mid-American Conference.
Simmons went 10-of-16 from the field in total and 13-of-16 from the line.
Outside of Simmons' career day, the Bobcats got solid contributions from nearly everyone else on the team. Jason Carter had 11 points, Jordan Dartis added 10 and Gavin Block and Kenny Kaminski both had nine.
Though the second half was a back and forth affair, the first half belonged to Ohio.
The Bobcats shot 10-of-27 from the field, while the Zips shot 11-of-31. Akron opened the game 1-of-7 shooting.
Perhaps the most impressive statistic, however, was the fact that Ohio lead for 18:53 through the first 20 minutes.
Simmons carried the Bobcats in the first half, too. He went 4-of-9 from the field with 13 points. But maybe more impressively, he had seven rebounds, too. Of the Bobcats 10 made field goals, Simmons had a part of seven of them. He also went 3-of-3 from 3-point range.
Size was a problem for Ohio down low, as the Bobcats were out-rebounded 22-17. Despite that, Ohio was able to contain Akron's size for the majority of the first half.
