Ohio's bid to build on a home win came up short Wednesday night, as the Bobcats fell to Northern Illinois, 74-71.
Ohio (6-6 overall, 1-3 Mid-American Conference) made a late charge at the Huskies, but had its fate sealed when Jeremy Fears missed a 3-point shot at the buzzer.
The game resembled Ohio's last road loss at Ball State, a game in which the Bobcats fell behind by double digits before charging back, only to lose in the closing seconds.
The Bobcats started off well in the first half this time, taking a 28-24 lead, but an 11-0 Northern Illinois (6-7, 2-3 MAC) run to end the half put Ohio down 35-28 at halftime. The Huskies continued to build on the lead at the start of the second half and led by as many as 15 points.
Once again, Ohio staged a comeback, getting as close as one point to the Huskies at 67-66 in the closing minutes. A 3-point shot quickly put the Bobcats back down by four points, 70-66.
The Bobcats would again cut the lead to one a few possessions later, when Jeff Halbert knocked down a 3-pointer, this time to make the score 72-71. But Northern Illinois knocked down clutch free throws at the end to get the victory. The last four points of the game came from the line, including the final two with 7.7 seconds left to give the Huskies the winning margin.
The Bobcats were able to come back in the second half thanks to their hot shooting. Ohio made 17-of-25 shots in the second half for 68 percent. One area that haunted Ohio all night long was free throw shooting. The Bobcats were only 13-of-20 at the line.
A bright spot in the defeat was guard Whitney Davis, who scored a career-high 15 points for Ohio off the bench.
He's been playing great in practice
coach Tim O'Shea said of Davis. He's a tremendous defensive player. You're going to see a lot more from Whitney Davis from this point out.
Mychal Green also tallied 15 points for Ohio.
A lot of Northern Illinois' success came in the ability to knock down 3-point shots. The Huskies buried 10 from downtown on the night.
They got some late in the shot clock and that's the advantage of playing at home O'Shea said. You're in a building you're much more comfortable with
and you tend to shoot the ball better.
O'Shea said that Ohio needs to focus on its next game against Kent State.
We've got Kent State coming into our building on Saturday and we've got to turn this thing around quickly and learn from some of our mistakes tonight and then play a much cleaner
more solid game against Kent State
then move on from there.
The Bobcats will be back in action Saturday when they take on Kent State in The Convo.
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